#point is i think he cares more about the actual survival of saiyans as a people

[chickenoptyrx]

'nother comic for the AU, but this ones not funny- more just 'miserable with small less miserable moments' :D

#uncle raditz #saiyan squad gohan #i hate shading #hate it so much #ok im back to tag rant :D #pretty sure its all stuff iv said before #but i like the idea of raditz still bein a bad person #like theyre all bad people #but hes atleast tryin to be a decent uncle #the bar is on the ground but like hes atleast gonna make sure kiddo is fed #obv i didnt include it but since nappas the only 1 w any experience dealin w kids #i kinda got it in my head that raditz is low key mirroring the way nappa was w him as a kiddo #like callin him raditz the runt #now gohans the runt :U #i mean nappas priority was def vegeta #but like.. nappa mentioned using the dragon balls to revive raditz #and.. ignoring any possible implications.. suggested spawning some new saiyans on earth #since gohan was apparently so strong #point is i think he cares more about the actual survival of saiyans as a people #and that includes keepin kids alive #vegeta on the other hand seems to just like the concept of saiyans as people he was destined to rule over #but hes accepted that theyre all gone and doesnt wanna like engage w any hope of revival #so he just kills em or lets em stay dead cause it was inevitable anyways :U #point is. nappas cool. dragon ball legends said so #saiyan saga vegeta tho.. he needs therapy. hes an ass and i dont like him >:U

[blueper-saiyan]

Despite not enjoying reading Planet Vegeta survives AUs very much, I still end up spending a fair amount of time thinking about what Vegeta would have been like if he’d actually grown up in the role of prince like he was supposed to. Obviously, he would have still been a tyrannical mass murderer except with far less insecurity and trauma, but that’s not really what I find interesting. I’m curious how he would view his role. In the regular timeline where basically every other Saiyan dies, he’s clearly (imo) decided that he needs to embody the absolute ideal for a Saiyan (or at least the version that he’s come up with, which is strongly biased by the fact that he grew up with only one adult Saiyan, was surrounded by people who hate his whole species, and was influenced by Freeza who both enjoyed messing with him and could directly profit if Vegeta was wrong about his own culture. So uh, probably not a particularly accurate version. But that’s a different concept to explore.). I’m not even sure if it was a conscious decision by Vegeta or not now that I think about it. Being very likely to be the last member of his species puts a very strong pressure to live up to or down to the expectations that everyone who met him would have. Beyond that, he’s royalty, and that means he’s supposed to be held to a higher standard, so he’d feel that pressure to leave a final impression even more than Nappa or Raditz. (And they both seem to care about it too, especially Raditz, which is interesting, but I’ll leave that sort of meta to the hardcore Raditz fans since I mostly just care about Raditz for the way he impacts Vegeta and don’t think as strongly about him)

So in contrast to the canon timeline, if Vegeta was growing up in a timeline where there were plenty of other Saiyans, would he feel that same pressure to be exactly what everyone expects of him? He’d have a more accurate picture of those expectations as well. I can’t decide whether or not I think that alternate version of Vegeta would still want to be the perfect Saiyan in quite the same way. Would he chafe against the actual ideal if it wasn’t more or less a framework he formed for himself? Would being able to actually be judged against it make it less appealing? What if some of the ideas about what makes a good Saiyan were things he disagreed with? Or would he still be loyal to his species and do the best he could to be the perfect Saiyan prince and then king, regardless of how high that standard might be or how much he dislikes some of it? He’s certainly canonically willing to subject himself to an impossible standard that causes him and everyone else a lot of problems. But is that only because it’s a standard he constructed himself?

Admittedly, at that level of divergence in experiences between canon Vegeta and a Planet Vegeta lives AU Vegeta, it’s hard to even really call the resulting character Vegeta still (the reason I don’t enjoy Planet Vegeta lives AUs) but I do feel like something about this question has relevance to actual Vegeta’s characterization and motives. Does he care so strongly about being Saiyan only because they’re all dead and therefore he’s forced to represent the whole species whether or not he wants to, and he’s embraced it at this point? Or is it because his father did a good job of instilling pride in him during the brief time they were together (for all the good and ill that his pride has caused)? Is he only so devoted to his “Saiyan pride” because he’s the one who came up with his version and no one else can truly decide how well he’s following it? Or does not having any external validation of how well he’s doing just make his self-imposed (and generally self-destructive) task harder? How much of why he’s so insistent on it is due to Freeza?

Freeza has a line shortly before he starts torturing Vegeta that I think about sometimes, where he basically says that he thought Vegeta was special and better than the other Saiyans. Up to your interpretation of Freeza whether Freeza genuinely believed that Vegeta is special somehow or if he was just doing some particularly cruel emotional manipulation there. Regardless of the intent behind it, if that was the attitude that Freeza was demonstrating most of the time, maybe Vegeta doubled down on being Saiyan because Freeza kept trying to claim he wasn’t like them, and he was able to see the insult. There’s also an alternative interpretation of Vegeta that he was convinced he was better than the rest of his species because of the way Freeza treated him. It’s an extremely good way to isolate him after all. In which case Vegeta only started (I often mentally call it “performing Saiyan pride” but I’m sure there’s a better way to refer to the behavior) after realizing he’d been lied to and manipulated for the majority of his life. So embracing being Saiyan so aggressively is a sort of penance for discrediting his people in the past. Or if he’d been performing Saiyan pride all along, the reveal that Freeza killed the Saiyans just spurred on a more intense performance.

Seeing a version of Vegeta with different pressures on him might give answers to some of these questions I have about why he behaves the way he does (yes it’s because he was never meant to be inspected this closely and he takes the roles he needs to for the sake of the plot, no I do not care I’m taking him seriously anyway), so I end up thinking about that version of him where he knows for sure what it means to be a Saiyan.

#Vegeta #dbz #long post #More or less a long post at least #I also think that how few other Saiyans Vegeta has really met is absolutely part of why he was willing to wait #Three hours to meet Goku like yeah he says he wants to torture him but there’s definitely some curiosity there #He just can’t admit to it because that goes against his idea of what a Saiyan is supposed to be #There’s also definitely still more to explore in why Vegeta performs Saiyan pride so aggressively that wasn’t relevant to an AU where #Vegeta knows a lot of other Saiyans #Like in the canon timeline how much did meeting Goku #Who is not at all like what Vegeta thinks a saiyan should be #Cause Vegeta to double down on his saiyan pride? #I barely even touched the surface of whatever the fuck was up with Vegeta and Freeza because that’s at least another essay #That I tend to leave to people with more qualifications to write

[risingsouls]

I mean, while the narrative by no means excuses them, they're shown as being desperate survivors, resorting to cruel acts to survive a universe that pm doomed them to extinction. And arguing for genocide is disgusting. And on Bulma, I agree, original material is not the friendliest to female characters, they hardly get to do anything before being married off and forgotten about. like how does someone forget that raditz/nappa/etc were only doing that to survive...? frieza drove them to it

[Part one here:]

[I saw this and thought the goons had come back to argue with me lmao. But I'm glad that isn't the case and it's someone else that saw how...uh...problematic the narrative of the other side of the argument was positing.

Under the cut for length and ~drama~.

As you said, the Saiyans were by no means good, but they didn't deserve to be wiped out (I mean...that's not even why they WERE wiped out...at least so long as we ignore implications of Beerus telling Frieza to do it which was dumb anyway so). No one does. I will say that, at least from what I understand (and accept; they seem to change the Saiyan's history every other saga), the Saiyans were always looking for a fight, and, according to at least the dub I know, they did go to other planets to do that and wreak havoc even before King Cold got his mitts on them. Whether that was to CONQUER said planets or not also depends on what part of the series you're watching it seems but you know. So they've definitely always had some questionable practices, but that doesn't mean they're evil by design and deserve total destruction.

And that's not even talking about basically ANYTHING we see of Saiyan culture/lifestyle IS post colonization by the Colds. We don't ACTUALLY get to see what their culture WAS without it being tainted by being ruled by another empire. We get some hints, most of which end up contradicted or something as I mentioned earlier, but we have no way of knowing what was purely from Saiyan culture and what got changed, adopted, or expunged.

The point I was trying to make with the Bulma and Vegeta stuff was that a lot of Bulma's behavior stifles or at least attempts to stifle even the most innocuous portions of Vegeta's Saiyan-ness he can practice and show like simply training/fighting (which is part of their culture and maybe even biology, despite what the arguers wanted to say). This is more headcanon-y, but that would probably extend to other aspects of his personality, practices, etc. that did come from his Saiyan heritage that didn't jive with how she wanted him to be or expected him to be. The folks in question unfortunately took that to mean I meant the worst parts of his old lifestyle which wasn't what I was talking about at all. Vegeta himself has no interest in conquest anymore, so their arguments were ridiculous from the get go. However, the things Bulma says and does on screen reveal that she wants him to be an Earthling husband. She wants him to act fully like an Earthling, and she has never been shown to care about his history or learning about it and his culture (i.e. Vegeta has had to inform her and the others of different aspects of Saiyan lifestyle and biology, stuff that she could have easily already known if she, imo, bothered to understand that part of him). And I'm not even saying that's REALLY a huge problem on the surface; you can't really blame her when that's all SHE knows and how her character is. Sexism aside, she is meant to be a spoiled, self-serving brat from the beginning. When it DOES become a problem is that, as I mentioned, she doesn't TRY to understand him on that level, and there are no hints that she has tried. She basically seems to pull exactly what the people that had a problem with what I said did in just assuming Saiyans are just genocidal killers with nothing else to them (and a note: I know Vegeta would probably be difficult to talk to about this but you get me I think).

Overall, I think they were just mad that I dared to call Bulma abusive and is a second Frieza for Vegeta based on this singular post where I didn't really get into the meat of why I think that because I've talked about it several times before. Yes, the writing for her is oftentimes sexist and awful like it is with pretty much every other woman in the series, but that...doesn't really play ball here. The point I was trying to make is that, while it's not on purpose or maliciously (another nuance of my post the people with a problem failed to even ask me about because they went immediately on the attack), is that Vegeta basically ended up in another relationship where he was being controlled by another person (again, perhaps not in a malicious way but she held a lot over him in terms of having a place to live and survive, especially when we know the dude was super depressed post Cell Saga; man was not about to have the wherewithal to fucking find a job and get a place of his own on a planet he knows so little about, so yeah...he's gonna take the easiest option available), something that I think is more apparent in Super than Z but it's still there. And yeah, I actually agree that he should just ignore her when he wants to train or leave or do something that isn't what she wants him to do at the time. But if we go by canon and how it's written (which I can say THIS would be where the sexism comes in), that's not what happens. Bulma does whatever she can to get what she wants from Vegeta in apparent and subtle ways that come off as pretty abusive.

And I'll say it now: Vegeta is fucking abusive and toxic, too. I've said it a million and three times, but since I didn't say it in the post in question, apparently I just don't think that. Which isn't true. Vegeta is shitty to Bulma from day fucking one. I really don't understand why they end up together as, again, I've said a million times. The choice is absolutely disrespectful to Bulma's character. Something else I've said ad nauseum. But again...this one post was the one they cherrypicked to get pissed over.

I got accused of not seeing nuance in any of this during this...debate. Thing is, this take is based on what happens in canon. This is my reading of the relationship based on canon events, and even then, it's just a SLIVER of what I think about their canon relationship. If I had my way? This relationship wouldn't exist or, at the very least, would be written VERY differently, from making Bulma be less of a sexist stereotype (in the relationships and in all aspects) to how Vegeta reacts to her always forcing him to do shit he doesn't want to or, perhaps, isn't even comfortable with (see: parties, huge get togethers for her work, vacations). I would actually write it more like we see in the Buu Saga and GT, where the two DO eventually seem to have an understanding of each others boundaries and have maybe actually gotten to know each other (something I really don't see in Super...at all). It would be more realistic for the two of them rather than this over the top ridiculousness we get from canon and fanon that doesn't fit the relationship. The post I made was about their CANON presentation, not what I would care to see or anything that would "fix" the ship.

Point is, people got in their feelings because I said canon sucks in handling Vegeta and Bulma, and I pointed out that their fave is problematic, all to base their accusations of me being sexist and unable to see nuance or understand the definition of culture on a single post that wasn't near as detailed as I've been in the past (and I've probably still missed thoughts here). They came off as super problematic because of that anger at my take and made comments that painted them as basically okay with the Saiyans being eradicated because of one aspect of their lifestyle which, in some regards, was something they had no choice in at the point of their demise (even if they might be doing similar anyway; problem is we can't know what they might have done if they had agency that wasn't marred by being ruled by the Cold Empire). But it is what it is.

I'll end saying this because, again, they missed every other post I've made about this. I don't hate Bulm, and I actually do hate how she's written. The biggest reason I criticize her and Vegeta in terms of this relationship is that most of the fandom and the ship's stans don't want to actually SEE that. They don't see how her writing is sexist a lot of the time and that her behavior doesn't make sense and IS actually toxic. The RELATIONSHIP is toxic on BOTH SIDES as it's WRITTEN (unfortunately, yeah, the writing makes Bulma MUCH WORSE than Vegeta in Super; I stand by that) and that's what I'm getting at. I point these things out because this fandom likes to paint Vegeta and Bulma as #couplesgoals and pretend they have no issues when that's just not true. It's red flag central up in there, but their rose-colored glasses are too thick for them to see it because they love the "beauty and the beast" "regular girl domesticates feral man" and "love conquers all" tropes and refuse to see the problems with the relationship.]

#.:ask:. #.:ooc:. #discourse cw #for those that have been around and have read my bs #this will be nothing new for you #but #.:long post:.

[nimedhel09]

Random Dragon Ball headcanons - Part 1 (out of many, I'm sure)

You knew this was coming at one point or another.

It was destined to happen with how much I love the franchise and how I've been talking about it lately on here.

You thought my Fairy Tail headcanons were a lot? Think again. It's nothing compared to what my mind has conjured for the DB franchise in the decades I've been a fan, lol.

Well, let's get ready!

Cha-la Head Cha-la starts playing

- Saiyans have three sexes (they don't care about genders): male, female and intersex. The intersexed Saiyans can present either as male or female. Saiyans do not care about the sex of their members, but they do tend to honour and respect the females and intersexed Saiyans, since they're the ones who are able to bring new life to their proud race (and since giving birth is like a battle, and it's bloody and all, it shows that they are super tough).

- Female and intersex Saiyans make something like 35% of the population, which isn't enough to sustain it (it's a fact that any animal population usually has more females than males, makes it easier for it to stay steady and not disappear). So no females are used as infiltration babies when it becomes a thing.

- Saiyans aren't really monogamous. As in, in modern times (aka since they've been enslaved by the Cold empire), they rarely have exclusive relationships that are serious enough that they link themselves to another Saiyan for life - or more (OMG I have a whole thing about Saiyan mating habits that needs to be told at one point if I don't forget to do it).

- Goku is, actually, a member of the third sex. But he doesn't know it, since he thinks he's a normal male human until Raditz, and later does not question his biologic difference from humans outside of the Zenkai, need for battle, huge appetite, enhanced senses and instincts, lower fertility rate (another biological thing I need to touch on later), and all that surrounds the tail. Since he had the Talk with Bulma (super quickly and awkwardly), he always thought all males had both bits, but females only had the one bit downstairs. He never questions it since he never saw another male's full genitalia.

- The Saiyans, in their time under the Cold empire/PTO, used their language as ways to send crypted messages to one another. Since Cold and Frieza were both super arrogant and looked down upon the Saiyans, they never asked anyone to translate the messages in galactic common. It's how Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa got away with being utterly disrespectul at times towards Frieza and plotted their revenge.

- Raditz is a worrywart. He also uses his head more than his pride can get in his way, which is one reason why he's kind of not seen in a kindly manner by Vegeta and Nappa. It's not very Saiyan-y, but it helped him survive until his unfortunate encounter on Earth.

- Piccolo knows the Namekian language, but a more ancient form, since it kind of evolved since Kami (the nameless Namekian, son of Katas) was sent to Earth when the cataclysm hit Namek. The slight difference in evolution does not impede him from understanding his fellow modern Namekians, though.

- Namekians have a huge capacity in telepathy. It's natural for them. But they mostly use the telepathy to communicate with people they are close to (hi Piccolo, Dende and Gohan, the cute dynamic trio).

- Saiyans also are capable of telepathy, more than most races, but they rarely use it. It was more in use before the civil war and destruction of Sadara.

- Saiyans aren't intrinsically bad. It's a consequence of their time on then-Plant, the war with the Tsufuls (need to touch on that later) and their slavery under the Colds. Before all that nonesense, they were an ok race, full of good and a bit of bad too (because no race is perfect).

- Gohan suffers from PTSD and that's canon.

- All the DBZ crew suffers from undealt-with trauma. Noone can change my mind.

- Goku is kind of demi-sexual and pan (if that's a thing, tell me if it's not, because I'm still learning). He loves all genders whatever their race, appearance, whatever, but he only loves Chichi? If that makes sense? (Though I have AU ideas where this is not the case huhuhu).

- Broly is not DUMB. I repeat, DBS Broly is NOT DUMB. He's just uneducated because of his upbringing. But he learns very fast. Because Saiyans are quite smart overall (smarter than most races we encounter in DBZ) and the big guy has a high potential. Although said potential is kind of hindered by his temper and instincts. He's working on them though.

- Also, all Brolys are LEGENDARY super saiyans. I don't care what DBS says.

- Vegeta is a genius when it comes to strategy. He's also very very smart. He helps Bulma come up with new inventions and helps her brainstorm when she's stuck.

- The Saiyans have 3 legends when it comes to super Saiyans (also the name is a dumbed-down translation of the original Saiyago title): they have the golden-haired avenger that is full of righteous anger, the green-haired berserker born once a thousand years that destroys everything, even themselves, and the red-haired saiyan that can go toe to toe with the gods themselves and are exalted as lesser deities.

- Magic and ki are very different. Some races are more geared towards magic, and others towards ki control. Saiyans are more geared towards ki control, which comes as no surprise because magic is looked down upon in their society (when it comes to combat, because it has its uses for the working and religious classes, but it's barely used at the end of their existence as a race). Namekians are usually more in tune with magic than ki control, but the warrior class is the exception (Nail and Piccolo are both warrior class). The dragon clan (those who are able to produce dragon balls) are particularly gifted with magic and healing powers (Dende, Mori and Guru - Kami is from the dragon clan, but he was also originally from the warrior class, so don't know if he counts, lol).

- Namekians reproduce asexually, but they are hermaphrodites (it's canon, though, so is it really a headcanon?).

- Earthlings are particularly gifted at ki control. More so than Saiyans because their instincts don't impede their learning curve, although Saiyans are more gifted to natural ki control (as in, they learn super quick when they see something, but minute mastery isn't as easy since they're quite quick tempered and prideful).

- Bulma has the means to become queen of the universe. She has the power to destroy Frieza, no questions asked and have even the most powerful warriors at her feet thanks to her genius. The only reason she hasn't done that is because, even though she's arrogant and vain and quick-tempered, she also is KIND and does not think of such things. Vegeta knows it and it excites the heck out of him (and kind of terrifies him a little bit, lol). I will take no criticism on this headcanon, thank you very much.

- Super Saiyan 4 is the primal version of Super Saiyan. It's not in the legends anymore because it kind of fell from use because it's so hard to harness, thousands of years even before Sadala was destroyed. Usually, SS4 Saiyans have golden eyes and black (true black, bluish or even purplish) to brownish-red hair (this one is rarer). Vegeta is kind of an outlier with his blue eyes in that form.

Ok, I'll stop here for now. I have way too many headcanons and I'll need some time to go through most of them, lol.

Hope you like them! And if you're a DB fan, please don't hesitate to leave your thoughts on this, and even your own headcanons!

#dragon ball headcanons #saiyan headcanons #dbz #dragon ball #dragon ball z #goku #vegeta #raditz #nappa #saiyans #mostly headcanons for the saiyans #bulma #broly #Nim rambles #Nim loves dragon ball way too much #Nim loves Dragon Ball

[obsidiennes]

So I think Tatsuki would’ve been double pissed off about everything that happened in Karakura on this day if she learned that Aizen went from, “Killing random humans makes me sad!” to, “KILL KUROSAKI ICHIGO’S FRIENDS!” in exactly one page.

(Also notice that if it’s impressive that Tatsuki is surviving, it should also be impressive that Michiru is surviving; there doesn’t seem to be anything special about Michiru, so by implication Tatsuki is shielding her from Aizen’s reiatsu here. Think about that for a second.)

She would be quadruple pissed off if she learned that Aizen was doing this because he has a weird obsession with angering Ichigo, as we learn in chapter 414:

This is not new behavior on Aizen’s part, by the way. When he’s extracting the Hōgyoku from Rukia during SS arc, he’s surprised when the technique doesn’t kill her. So he orders Gin to do it. Why? He’s never really cared about loose ends consistently before (Kisuke and Tessai escaping with Yoruichi in TBTP, Isshin surviving in EBTR). It also didn’t make sense to monologue at Rukia if he expected her to die. No, the monologue was for Ichigo’s sake, just like he had Gin try to kill her for Ichigo’s sake. Just like, by his admission here earlier, he is trying to kill Ichigo’s friends for Ichigo’s sake.

Did Aizen just get done watching the Frieza Saga of Dragon Ball Z? Did he see Goku go Super Saiyan for the first time after Frieza kills Krillin? Where’s his obsession with thinking Ichigo will get stronger from rage come from? (Is it because the Hōgyoku draws out extant potential and Aizen finishes up as... a screaming rage monster... implying he was actually always that inside and felt it gave him inner strength?)

This is of course when Gin turns on Aizen. It was a perfect opportunity for lots of reasons, but the fact that Aizen is behaving like Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now” by this point is surely one of them:

General Corman: Walt Kurtz was one of the most outstanding officers this country’s ever produced. He was brilliant, he was outstanding in every way. And he was a good man, too. A humanitarian man. A man of wit and humor. He joined the Special Forces. And after that his, uh... ideas... methods... became... unsound. Unsound. Colonel Lucas: Now he’s crossed into Cambodia with this Montagnard army of his, that worship the man, like a god, and follow every order, however ridiculous. [...] Colonel Lucas: Your mission is to proceed up the Nung River in a Navy patrol boat. Pick up Colonel Kurtz’s path at Nu Mung Ba, follow it, learn what you can along the way. When you find the Colonel, infiltrate his team by whatever means available and terminate the Colonel’s command. Willard: Terminate the Colonel? General Corman: He’s out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct. And he is still in the field commanding troops. Civilian: Terminate with extreme prejudice. Colonel Lucas: You understand, Captain, that this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist.

But it’s notable that Gin lets Aizen’s Scooby-Doo chase sequence with Tatsuki and company play out across chapter 413: Gin is fast enough that Rangiku can’t react, she’s already down at the end of chapter 412, and this is reiterated at the start of chapter 413. Gin shows up at the end of chapter 413. What’s he doing the whole time while Aizen is pretending to chase the humans? Is he watching and judging that, yeah, Aizen truly has gone off the deep end and it’s time to strike?

I’m not sure if that would have pissed Tatsuki off even more, or if she’d let it go for the fact Gin stabbed Aizen and cheer him on.

#Out Of Character #Video #Bleach #Meta: TATSUKI #Blood TW #Gore TW #Death TW

[thotful-writing]

Maybe Goku being set up on a blind date so he starts out all soft and coy but then bam, once she teases and sits on his lap thats it; like a switch is flipped to feral!

A HUGE thank you to @supremeleadershitlord for helping me with this. Work has been hectic and my dogs decided they don’t want to sleep at night anymore so I’m exhausted. I don’t know what I would do without her existence and assistance. Anyways, thank you for the ask! I hope it’s okay.

Goku fidgeted with the wrinkle free button down shirt Bulma provided. It felt stiff and uncomfortable and not at all good for any kind of fight. “Stop messing with the buttons,” Bulma scolded and slapped his hand away, “put these on.” 

“Come on, Bulma. Do I have to?” He whined, staring down at the black pair of slacks in his hands. The fabric felt comfortable enough but it also wouldn’t be ideal for a fight. 

“Goku! One more complaint and you won’t survive long enough to see if you even like this girl!” Bulma shouted as she pointed towards the room divider. 

Vegeta sat on the window sill with his arms crossed and a satisfied smirk on his face. “I’d listen to her, Kakarot. She’s one step away from being the first human to achieve Super Saiyan on pure anger.” 

“And you! Don’t think you’re off the hook. It’s Saturday night and you owe me a date.” Bulma pointed towards another stack of clothes draped over the arm of a chair. 

“What!? I didn’t agree to this, woman!” Vegeta glared at Goku like it was entirely his fault he had been met with Bulma’s injustice. 

“Goku, get dressed or you’ll be late for the date I set up for you. Vegeta, get dressed or I’m going on a sex strike!” She yelled back and stomped towards the door, completely done with their nonsense. 

“Get back here, woman! I’m not getting punished for Kakarot’s crimes!” Vegeta grunted, took one look at the uncomfortable clothes, and began to strip. 

Goku appeared from behind the divider with his pants unzipped and hanging off his waist. “Bulma as a Saiyan would be terrifying.”

“We would need more dragon balls,” Vegeta added, imagining all of the destruction his wife would cause. 

You waited impatiently in the restaurant lobby for your date to arrive. Bulma promised that Goku was a good guy. Cute, strong, and sweet. After the last few guys you were set up with, you hoped Goku was everything Bulma said he was or you were giving up on dates for a while. 

You spotted her bright hair with two men in tow as she entered the restaurant. One was Vegeta, you knew him well from many dinners at Capsule Corp. Your jaw nearly hit the floor when you looked at the other one. 

"Sorry we're a few minutes late, you can put the full blame on them," 

Bulma nodded towards the two muscle bound men at her side, "this is Goku, have fun!" She gave him a nudge towards you, grinned, and dragged Vegeta towards the other side of the restaurant. 

"Hi," you said awkwardly. Icebreakers were definitely not your strong suit. 

"You're not as mean as Bulma, are you?" He leaned in and asked in a hushed voice. "I'm guessing she forced you to wear this?" You patted his large bicep. 

"How did you know?" He glanced around to see if Bulma was in earshot. 

"Because you give off a more casual vibe than this. Looks good though, just don't flex or you'll rip that shirt." His bright smile put you at ease right away. 

The night started at the bar where you introduced Goku to your favorite mixed drink, Holy Water. The icy blue cocktail was an instant hit and your date ordered five more, chugging one after the other. 

"Okay, how are you not even a little drunk yet?" You asked after a while. The small round table was full of empty pint glasses and Goku was just as sober as when you met him at the door. You, on the other hand, were already buzzed and well on your way to drunk. 

"Bulma said something about my metabolism?" He shrugged and downed another. 

"Wait… are you actually God? That would explain all of this and the immunity to holy water." You gestured towards his amazing body. His cheeks flushed as his hand moved nervously over his hair. 

"What do you mean?" You stood and circled the table to his side and sat on his lap. With your arm draped around him, you leaned in close to his ear. 

"You're the best looking guy in here by a ridiculous margin, you realize that, right?" His hand rested on your lower back when you pressed your lips to his cheek. 

"And you're so sweet. I've never been this comfortable on a date." The second you pulled back to look at him, his lips crashed into yours. 

He shifted your body until you were straddling his waist without a care in the World about the people seated nearby. His hands moved down your back to the curve of your ass and his tongue slipped past your lips. Something had changed in the blink of an eye. You weren't sure what it was, but you were too lost in him to care.

"Of all the ways I thought you would draw attention to yourself, this was not on the list!" Bulma exclaimed, wedging the two of you apart, "Vegeta, a little help?"

 Once you were separated, Bulma ordered you out of the restaurant like an angry parent, but Goku had other plans. 

When you passed by the restrooms, Goku threw you over his shoulder and disappeared into the men's restroom. He bent you over the countertop lined with sinks and lifted your skirt up, slapping your ass hard enough to echo through the bathroom. 

"Is this okay?" He asked, shoving his pants down enough to pull his cock out. A guy exited a nearby stall and made a beeline for the door. 

"Fuck yes, just do it," you moaned and pushed your panties down for him. He rubbed the tip of his cock between your thighs and finally slid in until he filled you completely. 

"Fuck," you cried out and banged your fist on the counter. The way his cock stretched you was better than you ever thought possible. 

"Remind me to thank Bulma after she finishes yelling at us," you grinned and looked in the mirror at him, thankful you agreed to the date.

#ask lynn #supremeleadershitlord #goku #goku x reader

[saiyanmama]

Regarding canon, Gine had so much potential to be an interesting character, but largely thanks to she being a very minor character + how questionable female characters in DB are generally handled, much of that potential was squandered imo. I want to make certain things clear about her characterization here, that I think will help clear up some vague things and give her more depth than what little we’ve seen of her in canon. I’ve updated her backstory to include this but will also talk about it here to “announce” it:

— Gine is unnaturally soft and disinclined to violence, for a Saiyan that was born and raised on Planet Vegeta (in U7). She herself has no idea why she’s like this, it’s as if she just wasn’t meant to be a “true” Saiyan, but she’s learned to take it all in stride. She is who she is, and she has enough pride to not let herself mentally succumb to what other people think about her or what they think she should be.

— Even though she hates unjust killing, Gine did still participate in missions. She was a soldier. She tried her hardest to not take a life if she could avoid it, but too many times that ended up not being possible - especially if she took on her Oozaru form as she lost most of her inhibitions during it. She constantly held back against lifeforms her team was meant to purge, which did lead to them getting the upper hand and putting her in a bad spot, but she often got herself out of it. Bardock did occasionally help her, but it wasn’t a regular thing unlike what canon has painted. Gine was not a damsel in distress; the situations she ended up getting in were a result of her own “weakness” - something she acknowledges and will own up to.

Her wit and natural talent of thinking on her feet are the biggest reasons why she’s outlived comrades from old teams and survived for so long, despite her “weakness”.

Also, Gine isn’t truly that weak compared to other third-class Saiyans. She has received some Zenkai boosts in her life, which has thus made her move higher up in power rankings to where she was appropriately placed in Bardock’s squad. She wasn’t and never was deadweight for the team in the physical sense. (If anyone would like a power level for her, I imagine she was somewhere past 2,000 by the time Planet Vegeta was destroyed. A little past 3,000 tops. She’s nowhere near the main cast & many side characters nowadays ofc, but still. She has potential to become stronger.)

— Despite Gine’s dislike of the soldier lifestyle, she does actually like fighting. It’s only because of what combat IS to the Saiyans that she views it all in a negative light. She isn’t familiar with friendly, non life-or-death type of fighting like the sport that surrounds marital arts on Earth, which she would / will heavily prefer over the “kill, destroy, conquer” tradition Saiyan society maintains.

— Gine gradually did fall in love with Bardock; finding his bravery, looks (ofc), and compassion for those he cared about admirable and attractive. Her affection for him is genuine on her end, but I’ll leave if Bardock returned said feelings or if it was unrequited vague. They could’ve had an actual relationship, or have been “friends with benefits” that Gine willingly participated in. It makes little difference either way - outside of however complicated & emotionally painful things would be for her - as she did still give birth to Raditz and Kakarot/Goku. Regardless of her relationship with Bardock, she adores and cherishes her children.

Along this point, whether Bardock effectively booted Gine from the squad and had her become a butcher because he was tired of seeing her be hurt or because he got too annoyed of her softheartedness - I’ll also leave vague. What’s most important here is that Bardock helped her get her new position, which she is grateful to him for. She’d much rather feed her Saiyan kin than travel planet to planet for purging purposes.

— This largely depends on whatever Bardock Gine interacts with, but regarding the team, on this blog I have it being a blend of Bardock’s original team + the one he has in Minus / Super. Tora, Fasha, Borgos, and Shugesh were Gine’s comrades, along with Leek and Taro. I personally see no reason why the teams can’t be combined, since I’m sure Bardock is capable of leading 7 Saiyans, including her.

— Lastly, about Gine’s personality in particular: there is a certain degree of ferocity to her. She’s friendly sure, inherently compassionate yes, won’t end someone’s life just because absolutely, but her first instinct when faced with opposition is to react with violence - verbally or physically. She doesn’t have a temper per se, but can be rather fierce and will lash out if she thinks she’s been “challenged” in whatever way. She was more or less trained / conditioned to behave so, since she was a child. (I’m basically saying that Gine isn’t a “soft uwu baby”, she’s kinda that in spirit for a Saiyan but she isn’t incapable of defending herself.)

#/ finished writing this sooner than i thought i would; so i'll post it now \ #❥ ╱ meta ;; looking glass.

[duhragonball]

For the Ask Game: Son Goku

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: Goku is the main character in Dragon Ball Z, an anime that I have enjoyed tremendously for over 20 years.  He kicks aliens really fast and hard, and he eats wolves and bugs and clouds, and he’s very cool and good.   

That may sound kind of basic, maybe even borderline sarcastic, but I’m not sure how else to put it.    I’ve gotten so used to liking Goku that it’s hard to articulate why.   

Like, okay, you know that one episode during the Cell Games, where he’s gonna pick apples from his favorite apple tree?   And he does the special karate punch that makes the apples all fall out of the branches without really hurting the tree?    In the dub, he says to the tree “Ready for one more round, old timer?”  Or something like that, and then after he hits it, he’s like “See?  That didn’t hurt a bit.”  I’m not getting the lines right, but you get the idea.    That’s some choice Goku right there.    He’s friends with that tree!   

Why I don’t: hE gAvE mOrO a SeNzU bEaN-- ha ha just kidding, but can you imagine not liking Goku?   Because of something he did in some horseshit fancomic that doesn’t even count?

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of guff from people about Goku showing mercy to his enemies.   This is humorous to me, because I’d bet you dollars to donuts that they’re fans of Vegeta and/or Piccolo, and that only happened because Goku decided to have mercy on their stank asses.    “Well I like Vegeta because he kills people.”  He only gets to do that because Goku allowed him to live.    Best Green Dad doesn’t happen without Goku, period, end of sentence, new paragraph.   

I’m not a lore expert like that guy on Twitter who only watched DBZ Abridged, but here’s some cool trivia for you: Cell could have self-destructed and destroyed the Earth at any time.    It literally does not matter that Goku gave Cell a senzu bean before Gohan fought him, because Cell would have done the same thing no matter who beat him or how.     If Gohan had wiped him out quickly, that nucleus would have survived and regenerated, and he would come back even stronger.   The senzu bean just delayed the inevitable outcome, and not even by that much, because Cell wasn’t that worn out in the first place.   The whole thing with the senzu bean was Goku playing headgames with Cell and no one seems to understand that but me.   

But what about Moro, you ask?   Hey, come here.  

Closer.    No, closer.   

Listen to me.   I love you, okay?    But the Dragon Ball Super manga isn’t canon.   Hating Goku over something he did in Super is like hating Superman for something he did in a Mad Magazine bit.      

“Blargle blargle he doesn’t kiss his wife bad father, tournament of power--” I super mega don’t care about any of these ice cold takes.      Every day I go on YouTube and it recommends me the dirt worst Star Wars commentary videos.   “Maybe the SITH were actually the GOOD GUYS and the JEDI were the BAD GUYS!  Huh?  Did I just BLOW your MIND?   Be sure to like and subscribe!”  Every dope with a keyboard seems to think they can flip the script and pretend they’re some kind of genius.    “Thanos was right!”  “Magneto was right!” “Dr. Doom was right!” “Antifa are the real fascists when you stop and think about it!”  “Masks and vaccines are bullshit, COVID-19 is a hoax, but if it were real, maybe it’s the good guy in this situation!”

I didn’t mean to go off on a rant here, but the whole point of Goku is that he’s a pretty cool guy, and the hero of his particular adventure, and you see all these people trying to outsmart that somehow, like it’s not the premise of the character.   It’s like all those fan theories about how every show is really one character having a coma dream in the hospital.    It’s fake-deep, like when Will Smith’s kid goes on the internet and says something like “Water isn’t wet when you stop and think about it.”  

I’m not saying everyone has to like Goku, but I don’t get the hate-boner people have for him.    I don’t like cole slaw, it’s soggy and insipid and I don’t understand it, but I don’t go around trying to convince people it’s not made out of cabbage.  

Anyway, Goku’s awesome. 

Favorite episode (scene if movie): It’s hard to choose, but DBZ #248 always fucks me up.   I looked it up in my liveblog archive to get the episode number right, and the first line of that post: This one always fucks me up.

Moving on.

Favorite season/movie: In Dragon Ball terms, I guess this refers to the sagas, so I’ll go with Cell Games.    Goku goes into the battle with this flawed, touch-and-go plan, and it works.    He defeats perfection with imperfection, and it’s glorious.  

Favorite line: “What I represent can never be destroyed,” is one of the most metal lines ever uttered, anywhere.   It’s a threat and a moral lesson all in one.   

Favorite outfit: Two answers for this one.  

Shu’s outfit in the Fortuneteller Baba Saga was awesome.    I used to wear yellow T-shirts to work, so when I put on my blue labcoat I would see myself in the restroom mirror and think: yeaaaaahhhhhh.

I’m also big into Goku’s look during the Cell Games, classic orange outfit, blue shirt, with the Super Saiyan form ready to go.    That may sound obvious, since this is kind of Goku’s default look, but it takes a while to get all of this together.  For me, it was a big deal to see Goku in action as a Super Saiyan in his standard fighting gear, because the whole time he was SSJ on Namek his shirt was ruined.   Against Gero and 19 he was sick, but starting with the Cell Games, we get him fresh as a daisy, and it’s worth the wait.   Harder to stealth cosplay, though.

OTP: Gochi.   Come on.    I don’t even care that much about ships, but they’re adorable on the show, and the internet backlash against Gochi only intensifies my defiance.   

Brotp: I wrote a fanfic with Goku and Yamcha just joyriding in the desert, and that seemed pretty awesome, so maybe we need more of that.   

I dunno, maybe I’m giving this to Bulma.   They don’t get a ton of screen time together after a certain point in the show, but the bond between them is this really sublime thing.    In the same fanfic, I wrote Bulma and Goku interacting, and that was just a pleasure to write.

Head Canon: I think Goku being an alien orphan matters more to him than he lets on.   Early on, he knew he had parents but he didn’t know why they left him in the woods.   Pretty much every interaction he has with the outside world is about him being different.   Then he finds out he’s a Saiyan and all the Saiyans hate him for being weak and sentimental and so on.   He can kick all their asses, but that doesn’t make him any less of an outcast.   

I think becoming a Super Saiyan is a bigger deal to him than he lets on.   That moment kind of serves as this unspoken proof that there’s more to being a “true” Saiyan than Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz ever knew.   That maybe, if his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granny could see him, she might approve.

Unpopular opinion:

Yukio Ebisawa is underrated. 

A wish: I always wanted to see Goku style on Broly ‘93.   It seemed unfair to me that they kept bringing Broly back, and even teased a rematch with Goku in Movie 11, only to not deliver on it.    I wanted Goku to turn Super Saiyan 2 and Broly’d be all “oh noes!” and Goku would look at him and be all “Yeah.   What now, bitch?    That green shit won’t cut it anymore.”

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: I think my darkest fear about the Dragon Ball franchise is that it’ll get bastardized like Superman, where some giant multimedia corporation owns it, has no idea how to tell new stories with it, and refuses to let it lapse into the public domain.   I have no idea how public domain works in Japan, but “Disney Toei’s Dragon Ball KH” doesn’t sit well with me.    Hopefully I’ll be dead by the time that happens.  

Like, Rise of Skywalker wasn’t that bad.   But it did lead me to worry that they really have no idea how to make Star Wars work.    They got it right enough, but the part where Rose is going to stay and guard the base or whatever, it just made me realize they’re only guessing, and they just happen to guess right often enough to succeed.   And it’s not like you can jump over to some other studio and see how they handle a Star Wars movie.

5 words to best describe them: Ain’t nothin’ to fuck with.

My nickname for them: Geeko.    Ha ha, just kidding.  

#dragon ball #ask duhragonball #goku #son goku #jcogginsa

[sweetescapeartist]

WHY SAIYANS AREN'T THE GREATEST RACE 🙊

(But Saiyans have more potential than other races.)

So here's why I disagree with Saiyans being the greatest & strongest race. Many factors have to take place in order for Saiyans to get stronger.

POWER

The strongest that full-blood Saiyans could get with the best training is SS3 levels.

Maybe Saiyans could reach higher levels without god ki if we take GT into account, otherwise, SS3 appears to be the max. A Saiyan's max attainable power with the best training could be Vegito levels of power before they get too old & are unable to fight or they die of old age.

But keep in mind that Goku said not even fusion could defeat Beerus.

Goku had to do a ritual & train with an Angel just to attain god ki. (Other races may have something similar to the ritual. Other races could also train with Angels. Like Toppo.)

Most Saiyans weren't pure of heart or righteous. SSG could possibly be achieved by very few, but keep in mind that Saiyans don't have deep training & aren't spiritual as a culture. They would not know how to get as strong as Goku had learned.

TRAINING & SPIRITUALITY

Vegeta started training hard during the android saga. His reason for training was because he saw how beneficial training was for a low-class Saiyan like Goku, who became the legendary Super Saiyan before a royal Saiyan elite could.

Its important to note that Goku was raised as an Earthling, learned Earthling martial arts & he developed spiritual insight that Saiyan culture doesn't seem to have. Also Goku trained with 2 gods (Kami & King Kai) and acquired further power to rival Saiyan saga Vegeta. He then surpassed Vegeta in power & far surpassed him in skill because of his Earthling training.

And realistically it would be difficult for most Saiyans to even achieve the Super Saiyan transformation. They would solely rely on the Oozaru transformation. A select few elite warriors/royal Saiyans might get strong enough to achieve Super Saiyan. But from what we know about Saiyan training, it would be a very very long time before they could achieve Super Saiyan. Only the Super Saiyan transformation could even be as far as they could get.

Like I stated earlier, Vegeta was motivated to train after he saw how beneficial training was for Goku (who has Earth training & trained under 2 gods). If Vegeta never met Goku, Vegeta probably would never achieve Super Saiyan. On their own, Saiyans would most likely never see benefits of such training. They are a warrior race that see death-battles as the best training.

Goku who has martial arts training focused on self improvement, godly training, & spirit control training from the Yardrats understood how to train and conquer the Super Saiyan transformation. That's knowledge Saiyans dont have nor would their culture care about.

So lets say we give a few Saiyans the Super Saiyan transformation. I don't think Saiyans would share the knowledge of Super Saiyan with each other. Stronger ones would suppress the weaker ones until Saiyan society collapses or a civil war breaks out that would result in many casualties.

Goku saw the flaws in just buffing up the muscles of Super Saiyan. Vegeta who has a lack of deep training and Saiyan thinking, he did not see the flaws. He isn't trained the way Goku is. Being a martial artist & spiritual gave Goku a huge advantage over every other Saiyan. He was able to use his knowledge to push Gohan (a hybrid with Earthling principles) to reach Super Saiyan 2 even before a full blood Saiyan could.

Yes, Goku more than likely attained Super Saiyan 2 soon after he died. & more than likely, Vegeta attained it a few years after Cell was defeated. Goku was able to discover Super Saiyan 3 only because he was dead for 7 years & was able to train. His understanding of training and not having a physical body helped him achieve the new form.

No other full-blood Saiyan can achieve Super Saiyan 3 because of the training it takes & the toll it puts on the body. Goku barely even uses it in DBS for that reason (also because they are marketing SSG & SSB instead).

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

Now if we go back to the point of attaining the Super Saiyan transformation, new information has told us that most Saiyans have a low amount of S-Cells; the cells needed in order to become a Super Saiyan.

Their way of life as being warriors who lived to fight all the time is why they could not build up S-Cells. S-Cells that are built up from a gently spirit (most Saiyans lack). Peaceful environments are necessary for this build up of cells. Saiyans naturally thrive for constant battle. The chances of Super Saiyan are even slimmer with S-Cells in mind.

UNIVERSE 6 SAIYANS

Universe 6 Saiyans are mostly good hearted & live much more peaceful lives than Universe 7 Saiyans. It would appear that the good Saiyans defeated the wicked Saiyans in Universe 6. So how come Cabba is somehow the first Super Saiyan? I guess Universe 6 Saiyans don't know how to train properly either.

And lets be honest, it was terrible writing how Cabba & Caulifla attained Super Saiyan. So you're telling me that not one Universe 6 Saiyan had never gotten angry over losing a close friend or family member while on the battlefield? Sure, whatever. Logically, since Cabba never saw Super Saiyan before, it can be said that Super Saiyan is either non-existent or only royal Universe 6 Saiyans have achieved it & keep it secret.

"But the tingly back thingy!"

If a tingly back was only necessary to attain Super Saiyan, then Goku, a master martial artist, should've taught that to Gohan so that Gohan wouldn't struggle so much during training to defeat Cell.

EDIT: Goku more than likely did teach Gohan the tingly back thing after Gohan became a SS. Mastered SS is not triggered by rage. The tingly back wkrks well if dont like this.

But rage is what Super Saiyan has always been activated from. We are still told that the transformations are emotional. Great anger/rage is how Super Saiyan is triggered

(DBS manga chapter 52 & information guides tell us that Super Saiyan is still triggered by rage.).

Caulifla not only achieved Super Saiyan within a days or few hours, but she achieved Super Saiyan 2 the next day! Gohan has the most potential out of all Saiyan because he is a hybrid with a good heart & had some of the best training to have. It DOES NOT make any narrative sense from all that we've learned & continue to learn about Super Saiyan transformations. And the way Caulifla got 2 transformation within 2 days belittles the efforts of Goku & Gohan for the sake of "Look! A female Super Saiyan!"

If Caulilfa can achieve Super Saiyan 2 after only having Super Saiyan for a day, why didn't Future Gohan easily tap into Super Saiyan 2 as well & defeat the androids? Such convoluted writing for Universe 6 Saiyans... 😑

Out of Universe 6's three Super Saiyans, only Kale's transformation seems reasonable because it is set up similar to DBZ Broly. Kale controlling her power within a few minutes in the anime was stupid tho... The manga handled Kake better because she never gained control of herself. But... she had enough sense not to kill opponents and drop them out of the arena... So did she have control or not? A berserker is out to kill, not drop you out of bounds so she isn't eliminated. 😓

Nevermind. Both handled Kale's Super Saiyan form wrong in different ways...

(I have a theory that Universe 6 Saiyans may actually be Saiyan/Earthling hybrids. Which is why its easier to get Super Saiyan and they don't have tails anymore. But that's a different discussion.)

BACK TO UNIVERSE 7 SAIYANS...

So about how strong a Saiyan could become on their own. I was being generous saying full-blood Saiyans could possibly get as strong as Vegito at most. That's more so something only Goku could attain. Saiyan culture & life, heart condition, lack of spiritual connection, & lack of good martial arts knowledge keeps them from growing. If they did train to get stronger then the most they can achieve would be Super Saiyan 2. The Super Saiyan God ritual would be attainable by some, but they could not absorb the power like Goku (thats because of his disciplined training) nor would Beerus allow Saiyans to keep causing havok. He planned to destroy them anyways.

And I'm sure that if one lone Saiyan achieved Super Saiyan on Planet Vegeta, Freeza would destroy the entire race out of fear. If Freeza somehow lost, Beerus would eventually destroy them.

LUCK & GENETICS

Goku, Vegeta, Broly, & Tarble were lucky and able to live different lives from the average Saiyan, be kinder beings or have their hearts changed (wouldn't happen for most Saiyans). Goku is the 1 in a trillion rare Saiyan that got the best training & he influenced surviving Saiyans to be more like Earthlings.

(But even after all the training Goku did in OG Dragon Ball, Raditz was much stronger than Goku. That means most low class Saiyans were around the same strength as Roshi & ChiChi.)

If we are generous and say some Saiyans could've achieved Super Saiyan 2 and would not try to kill each other, then they still lose to aliens like Piccolo, Krillin, Hit, Jiren, Ribrianne, Cell, or 16, 17, & 18.

Give Hit god ki and give him Angelic training to learn Ultra Instinct. He doesn't even have god ki & yet he can keep up with Goku who needed god ki to reach such power.

Broly would be the exception because he is a Legendary Super Saiyan & in a way a mutation too. But his power is uncontrollable. Imagine Broly snaped & tapped into that uncontrollable, monterous power on Planet Vegeta. All Saiyans there die within seconds.

Saiyans are very strong aliens. But other aliens are stronger or understand how to get stronger.

If anything, Saiyans have some of the best genetics & potential that give them a very high possible advantage. However, that is not a guarantee. But Earthlings & Namekians also have very high potential they can utilize along with knowledge far beyond Saiyans.

Being raised as an Earthling is the secret to Goku's power. Being half Earthling is the secret to Gohan's great power & potential. Its as if an Earthling's potential and training & a Saiyans potential and genetics are the perfect mix for a reason. Like they're branched from the same ancestor & are counterparts in a way. 🤔 (But that part's just another theory of mine.)

CONCLUSION

Without god ki, Goku loses to almost every opponent & enemy in DBS. Goku even says SSG is a power he couldn't achieve on his own. He was nearly at the peak of his power until he learned god ki.

And like I have stated, either ritual or Angelic training could be something any race could possibly utilize.

That's what I gathered from the info we've been given.

AFTERWORD

If you disagree that's fine. Disagreements aren't a bad thing. But if you say I'm wrong on something, show or cite evidence within the series (DBZ & DBS in particular) that says or shows otherwise.

All info shows us that most Saiyans would never be strong like Goku. It was luck & circumstance that Goku was not raised as a Saiyan but as an Earthling. Otherwise he would not have been unable to compete with Vegeta or Goku would've been destroyed on Planet Vegeta, killed on the battlefield, or quickly killed by someone stronger than him.

Please don't rebutt by saying things like "Well they're stonger than Earthlings." or "Their god forms are stronger than everyone else."

Those don't work.

If Earthlings trained like Goku (not like Saiyans because Saiyans don't train like that. Its an Earth thing💡) then some humans could surpass Super Saiyan 2. Evidence shows that Krillin & Tien & Yamcha have surpassed Namek saga Super Saiyan Goku. And they aren't addicted to training like Goku does. But when they do train, they make great leaps in power even without transformations.

God ki isn't something every Saiyan can learn (like Goku & Vegeta have) nor is god ki something exclusive to Saiyans. Look at Dende & Uub (DBS chapter 66). Goku being raised as an Earthling, trained as a martial artist, & training with lower gods is what aided his learning of god ki. Vegeta began to train diffetently after seeing a weaker Saiyan's results after training. Plus god ki had to be learned. I doubt Whis or Beerus would teach them if they were evil.

#saiyans #dragon ball #db #dragon ball z #dbz #dragon ball super #dbs #i like saiyans so i try my best to understand them from the resources we have

[kibbles-bits]

OMG! I love the whole Zamasu and Mai thing, and you even made it make sense. Though, now that Zamasu is slowly realizing that things aren't adding up with this partnership, what's next? Pls only answer when you have time.

I’m answering a year later cause i have time now >_>’

Part 1 | Part 2

This part goes on very similar to the anime. Black is tracking and messing with Trunks as he wreaks destruction, Future Bulma dies, Trunks meets up with Mai… And she is seemingly killed by Black. Trunks manages to use the time machine to go to the past. Zamasu, meanwhile, is looking for Mai since he usually waits for Black to be distracted before he talks to her. Except he can’t find her.

Unable to sense Trunks’s ki anymore, Black takes out his frustration on the city and it attracts Zamasu’s attention. Zamasu asks what’s going on and Black admits Trunks somehow got away from him just as he was about to end him permanently. Black is extra angry in this version cause he thought that ending Trunks’s life would improve his and Zamasu’s relationship since this was something the two had argued about a lot. Zamasu believes Black just let him go again and the two bicker about it until Black says exactly how the fight went down… and that he killed the girl who was always with Trunks.

Zamasu is shocked. He convinces himself for a second it wasn’t Mai who Black killed, but some other, insignificant human. He demands that Black elaborate, and Black obliges, oblivious to Zamasu’s state. As he recounts what happens, he is clearly pleased that he killed Mai, since she was seen as such an important and inspiring leader to the other humans and Trunks had cared for her so much. He laughs that she is dead. Before Zamasu can get properly pissed, Black’s time ring reacts to his recount of the story and he is able to follow Trunks through time, leaving a very emotionally confused Zamasu behind and alone.

Trunks is in the past and can give a slightly more detailed summary of what’s going on in his timeline, thanks to what Mai has told him about Zamasu and Black. Beerus and Whis were at first upset about the time travel, but what Trunks says about a Supreme Kai going rogue is more concerning. They’re skeptical at first since they’re only hearing about it from a mortal who already broke such an important law, but once Goku Black manages to appear in the timeline they believe him (though they stay out of the fight). They conclude that Zamasu became Supreme Kai and made a Goku clone as a servant.

After Black destroys the time machine and Bulma finds the old one to repair, Trunks tells the others more about the fights he’s had with Black and limited information he has about Zamasu, since he had never actually seen the Kai himself and relied on what Mai told him. Beerus thinks it’s weird that none of the other gods have gotten involved and Whis wonders if they’re even still around. Trunks tells them that Zamasu told Mai that he and Black were the last gods but hadn’t given any more info, to their alarm. To satisfy their curiosity, they travel to Universe 10 and bring Goku along to see if Zamasu would recognize him. If he did, then they would have reason to suspect a plan is in the works to annihilate the gods and Gowasu would be in danger. Goku fights Zamasu and notes the energy is similar to Black, but overall they find no evidence of Zamasu being malicious towards Gowasu and leave.

Zamasu searches the ruins of the city for Mai’s body. As he looks, he thinks over Black’s actions and his own role again. The balance of power and influence over each other is fresh in his mind and he gets angry just thinking about it, though he still doesn’t know what to do with his anger. It’s been a while and he can’t find Mai’s body and he’s disappointed. He remembers that searching for bodies is what Mai would do for her comrades and wonders if that means he considered Mai an ally of his. That thought, combined with how angry he feels over her death, causes him to reluctantly accept that he did see Mai as someone with worth, someone he liked. It only made Black’s actions more despicable in his eyes.

When Black returns, winded from his fight with Goku, Zamasu pretends he doesn’t hear him calling to heal him and continues his search for Mai’s body. Eventually, he does find her. She’s alive! (Shocker)

Mai, to his annoyance, barely spares him a moment to talk, but he is too relieved that she’s alive to be too offended. She is in a hurry to get back to the rest of the resistance and has no time to speak to someone who isn’t even an ally when there are lives at stake. She tells Zamasu this and in response he grabs hold of her to keep her still and heals her injuries. Reluctantly he admits how much he has begun to detest Black and that he is relieved to see she survived. Before Mai can even think of a response, they see explosions and she rushes in that direction because she recognizes it as the subway station the rebels would go during an evacuation.

Black is distracted by Zamasu asking what he was doing now and how did he get hurt. Black happily explains what happened when he went through the time distortion. He wanted to test out his body’s forms when destroying the humans, though he is admittedly slowed down by the injuries he got from Goku. Zamasu has him return to their base so he can heal him, giving the resistance time to escape with just a bit more of the civilians than they did originally. Eventually he leaves Black with tea and an excuse, to his counterpart’s confusion.

Zamasu returns to Mai who icily thanks him for distracting Black, but people still died and she’s sick and tired of such pointless deaths. To Zamasu, it’s different to see the mortals at ground level after watching them fight so boldly from afar. They are dirty, starving and scared and he feels weird to be connected to the cause of it. Mai asks how he even found her and the others and Zamasu realizes he must have picked up the ability to sense power levels after Black brought it up and focused on her.

Remembering that fact, Zamasu informs her that Black will know where they are. He can sense their energies and the only reason he hasn’t killed them all is because he is either toying with them or wants to draw Trunks out. This is a huge blow to the other resistance members’ confidence. Mai just expresses her distaste and firmly stands by her decision to hold onto hope and support Trunks and any allies he might bring. Zamasu is intrigued in the idea of Trunks bringing allies but Mai refuses to give details. She then asks him to go and please, don’t come back unless he is going to help.

Zamasu leaves and eventually decides to just dispose of Black. Not for Mai or the mortals (totally not), but because he’s done serving him. When he returns, Black shows him his new form, Super Saiyan Rosè that he was able to acquire by taking in all the moves he learned by fighting Goku in the past and turning them into his own in his body. Zamasu is immortal, but not powerful enough to dispose of Black quickly so his plan to destroy Black needs rethinking – if he messes up then Mai and the other survivors would be put at risk. He plays nice and impressed for now, but unfortunately does not have any time to really plan.

Trunks returns with Vegeta and Goku and Black is drawn to the area where are and the fight goes as it does in the anime as Zamasu watches from above. Eventually when Black is about to finish them off, Zamasu tell him to stop. Except in this version, he means it. Goku appears happy to see him, claiming he knew he didn’t seem like a bad guy and Zamasu is offended he calls to him so casually. Black is furious and demands an explanation. Zamasu tells him he’s had a change of plans and is not going to just follow him anymore. At some point it’s revealed Black is Zamasu from the past in Goku’s body and Zamasu criticizes him for it and his primal obsession again.

While Black is distracted, Yajirobe and Mai save the three Saiyans and send them back to the past, more hopeful now that Zamasu appears to have switched sides.

Zamasu spends his time keeping Black away from the remaining humans. Black knows he can’t kill him and Zamasu knows he can’t defeat Black on his own so eventually the fight goes to a standstill with the two just arguing again. Black is on the brink of hysteria because he can’t believe the one he is fighting is himself. He can’t deal with the idea that any version of himself could be as flawed as to think mortals are worth anything. He begins to taunt Zamasu. What did he plan to do if he killed him? The Super Dragon Balls are gone so he can’t undo anything. All the other gods were gone, was he going to live amongst the filth and sins of mortals? Stay at his side. They are so close to a perfect utopia. The last of humanity wasn’t worth it. He’s seen what they do, how they dare to claim godly power as their own and throw fists at true higher beings, what plan could he possibly have for them? Zamasu begins to lose confidence in his decision.

In the past the Saiyans are sent to recover. Trunks tells Beerus and Whis about how Zamasu had swapped bodies with Goku after losing a fight with him. Beerus decides he hates time travel and they revisit Gowasu and Zamasu. Like the anime, they prove Zamasu’s murderous intent and he is erased. They explain everything to Gowasu and he is horrified, but then decides he wants to help. Beerus says its unnecessary since Zamasu is erased in this timeline so therefore, he is gone in all of them, but Gowasu says it isn’t the case if Black is wearing a time ring. He wants to help the future Zamasu who has switched sides since he apparently had failed so badly with his own. Beerus doesn’t care and says to do what he wants, time travel is such a hassle.

Goku, Vegeta, Trunks and Bulma are ready to travel back to the future, more battle ready. Goku and Vegeta barely begin to fight Black while Zamasu stands aside uncertainly. As Black fights he recounts all the sins that Trunks, Vegeta and Goku have committed, confident he can get Zamasu back on his side with these blatant examples in front of him.

Shin arrives with Gowasu and once Black sees him, he is frozen. Gowasu condemns everything he has done in a speech and it makes Black furious but it gets through to Zamasu, strengthening his resolve and he rejoins the fight. Faced with Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, his old master and himself, Black completely snaps. He tries to kill Gowasu for a third time but Zamasu intercepts the attack. From there, Black’s attacks are overpowered and erratic. There’s a big dramatic fight and probably speeches and monologues but with everyone teaming up on him, it doesn’t take too long for them to kill Black. Trunks gets the killing blow cause its Trunks.

Gowasu asks Zamasu to join him in his timeline and perhaps they can make up their mistakes with each other, but Zamasu declines. He won’t go through with the Zero Mortal Plan, but he also can’t go back to standing idly by and watching as mortals fall to evil. Everyone parts ways and goes back to their respective timelines as everything gets wrapped up. Trunks’s future is safe and they begin to rebuild as Zamasu rethinks his future and his role. It’s all a pretty uncertain, but happy, ending…

…Then upper management gets involved.

#Zamasu #Mai #Zamai AU #Asks #merusthedivineangel

[hopefromadoomedtimeline]

Can I talk to you about the scars Future Trunks (and Vegeta) would probably have? 👀 If you're interested?

Oh? Yeah I don’t mind!

For Vegeta, who admittedly I haven’t thought about him too much in this department, I’d imagine he wouldn’t have many scars if any before the Saiyan Saga tbh. Or at least, the scars he did have are either old or have long faded. I’d imagine that most of the injuries were sustained when he was in his child/teenage years, as when he actually bleeds by Goku’s hand, he flies off the handle pretty quickly by being injured by someone he considers “lesser” and immediately tries to destroy the planet, something he himself would not survive the aftermath. 

Considering Vegeta views just about everyone as lesser, I’m assuming he never actually bled before that point, or at least he had before he was strong enough to blow up a planet in a temper tantrum. Though thinking about it he might have some scars from Frieza (both to put him in his place and because he felt like it) but i think Frieza settled for being very heavily emotionally and psychologically abusive (as in reminding him he was powerless in his situation, had no future but to serve him, often proclaiming he can kill vegeta the second he steps out of line, etc.) So really any scars he has would probably be lingering remnants from Goku, Frieza, Zarbon, Recoome, 18, Cell and maybe Buu.

Trunks on the other hand did not have the luxury Vegeta had of being victorious time and time again and therefore is far easier to figure out. The scars he first sustained were from the androids, as were the second set of scars, and so on and so forth. Every time, the wounds that had faded would be replaced by fresher ones and since medical supplies were limited, not everything always healed up 100% before there were more wounds and broken bones to take care of. And of course, I like to entertain the thought Trunks has a ring like scar around where Cell shot and killed him. I’m sure Vegeta left him with a few scars as well during their year together as he had no reason to hold back. And obviously if we decide to count Super, he’s got plenty of scars and battle wounds from our good friend Zamasu.

Fun stuff for everyone involved.

#saiyanblood2 #ironically this became more of a post about vegeta than trunks but that's fine #injury cw #Out of Time (OOC)

[ibitchytimemachine]

Chapters: 53/? Fandom: Dragon Ball Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con Summary:

With Earth destroyed, Bulma and the Z gang find themselves in an outer space guerilla war against a tyrant. The mysterious Vengeance seems to be the only hope to win the war against Frieza, but teaming up with him brings its own set of problems.

 AU, ensemble cast but with focus on BV. Several other pairings (m/F and m/m) and non-romantic relationships get significant screen time.

While Vengeance often appears to be a light-hearted, funny story, there are darker elements running through several storylines. Warnings of non-con are for isolated incidents and don't reflect the story as a whole, but explicit descriptions of sex, violence, and general depravity are contained within these chapters.

Of all the Vegebul fics I have read, this one is easily my favorite. It has nuance, gives (almost) every character full and rich motivations and story lines. You find yourself rooting for the oddest pairs and weirdest people. I can not recommend this story enough, and if you wanna read my thoughts on it, lets dive into spoilers below the cut! 

So this story has something for everyone. You want thick well thought out and executed plot? DONE! Humor? DONE! Large cast of characters, both canon and OC who are all pretty well flushed out? DONE! Smut? Name your poison, chances are, its in here. There is so much about this story that I love that I am struggling with exactly the best way to organize my thoughts. So instead of agonizing over it, instead I am just gonna throw away all my careful notes that I have taken during my read and just freaking ramble! 

I think the first thing that people are a little put off on is the rare pair of RaditzXPuar. I will tell you that I 5,000 percent ship these two and it is all because of reading this fic. I love it so much that I MAY have even taken some time to draw my own fan art for the pair, but lets just leave THAT in the vaults xD When Raditz first encounters Puar, he is NOT a cat. Puar is in a Human form and is shifted to be Bulma. Raditz immediately is attracted to Puar’s scent and when they later encounter each other in a bar and end up ( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ ) Ray is still just enamored by Puar’s scent. Whenever we see Rays POV in-between the time that Ray has fucked Human Puar, and the time that Puar is discovered, Ray keeps catching scents of the cat. And it drives him fucking wild. He later says that he is so crazy for Puar that he was about to fuck a houseplant cause it reminded him of Puar. Beyond that we get the backstory on Bonding and that basically Saiyans bond to a mate kinda at random so Ray has basically taken Puar as his husband. Raditz is really a great lover, there is a relationship imbalance between the two, but Ray doesnt take advantage of it. Its really a pretty healthy relationship. Puar gets jealous of some stuff, Ray gets WAY jealous of stuff but they always seem to talk it over. Shit at one point Ray dreams of having kids with Puar, and he is swiftly reminded that Puar is a MAN and will never be and never wants to be a WOMAN. 

A huge part of me feels like this Puarditz pairing is commentary on identity, self acceptance and love. Ray is constantly telling Puar that he doesnt care what his body looks like (except that he is excited to see Puar has a tail), only that it is Puar that he is in love with. It is only Puar Ray wants, no matter if he is a human, cat, plant, screwdriver or anything else. Puar talks about how he feels weird in his cat body, but it is his natural form and he wants to change and be bigger, more menacing, or just different. And I think we can all appreciate that sentiment at some point in our lives, but I can also see this as a low key message about trans acceptance and its fucking beautiful. Hell even Bulma tells Puar that he should take whatever form he is most comfortable in and basically fuck everyone who disagrees. I love that message and I love this pair - fight me. 

I really want to talk about another pretty complex character in this fic, Zarbon. He struggles with so much shame and negativity in this story. He hides behind his good looks and his hair, and when that shit gets cut off, Zarbon is a completely different man, it is shedding his old evil skin and literally growing into his own as a new man, a better person, and you start to care about him. His time with Frieza has basically ruined his ability to have any sort of healthy relationship - friend or other, because he resorts to sex for just about any close relationship he has. The FIRST person he meets after being rescued from Frieza, he starts bedding. Hell he promises a pity fuck to Burter for rescuing him, and come on.. I have never wanted a Burger sex scene more than when I was reading this fic. No really... Catgirl has a way of making you root for just about everyone... I think  that besides the slavers, the only character I HATE is Frieza, and thats pretty cool. AND Speaking of Frieza, shit hes a bad dude in this story. There aren't many POVs of him, and we see a lot of Frieza through Zarbon, Vegeta and Burter, but the POVs after Zarbon escapes and Frieza is trying to replace him is she fucked up shit. You really see his madness when he is sitting in the bloody tub stroking the hair of the dead attendant wishing it was Zarbons. He repeatedly states how much he gave to Zarbon, and how he basically loved him, but then you see him torture the poor man, sexually assault him, and generally just be a complete tyrannical asshole to him. 

The way the Nameks are handled is really cool. I love the nod to canon with them living with the Briefs on Red Station, I love watching Dende figure out how to lead, and struggle with his followers. I love how he makes the decision to room with Gohan as a way of bridging the gap between the Namekians and the Saiyans. The decisions Dende makes shows that he is dedicated to moving forward and not being stuck in the past. But you see him still struggling with things in the past, Zarbon for example. it is hella tense for a while when he first comes aboard because Dende feels Zarbon is responsible for the demise of his people, and Dende seeks out others help and advice on how to manage his feelings. He gets several peoples views and chooses what he thinks is the best, just like a good leader would. He even attempts to make Piccolo feel more welcome in the Namekian contingent of beings on Red Station.

Nappa is a super important character for the beginning of the story. He is the voice of Saiyan past and he advises Vegeta, wether he takes the advice or not. Overall he is the Father figure Vegeta needs (a common role for him) but he tells Vegeta and Raditz about bonding and Gohan comments that it sounds like LOVE. Nappa has some really shitty moments with Bulma, but overall I really like the sweet peeks into his head, when he thinks about his dead wife and babies, or when he tears up about the thought of Bulma and Vegeta having “little princes” of their own, is just heartwarming. And the attraction to Momma Briefs is cute and funny and provides so much ammunition for Bulma to hate Nappa (and boy do they hate each other)

I kinda hate how K18 gets treated in this story, and part of that is how long it takes for 18 to come about, and another part of that is the fact that the story isn't finished. I feel like 18′s android qualities are REALLY played up, which isn't a bad thing - great characterization in fact... but poor Krillin deserves so much better than being mounted with no foreplay and then immediately being engaged... Now I will say that I really like both of these characters in this fic, just wish things were finished cause their relationship has so much more to explore. 

I have both love and hate the Vegebul relationship dynamics in this story. They obviously care for one another, but the relationship seems super unhealthy... there is really no talking, relationship building going on in story. a LOT of fucking sure, but it almost feels like these two banter, fuck but don't really know one another.. and thats kinda sad.. I like that part of a Vegebul fic. Bulma is legit scared of Vegeta on multiple occasions and even in the last published chapter Vegeta looks at her and thinks that she is a monster just like him. And hell with her improvements to the Ki Circlet, she probably is. I will say that their smut is A++ fantastic, it is real, sometimes it is awkward (when they fuck in her lab it is both hot and funny) and there is always a mention of safe sex. 

With all the time spent on, pretty much everyone, including 2 OCs, it is sad that 17, Dr. Briefs and Tien don't get a little more love. They have very very brief scenes peppered throughout the story, and they just seem like after thoughts.. Shit Roshi and Oolong have more impact on the story than any of these three do and thats just a bummer. I am gonna say that maybe they have parts in the unwritten bots of the fic, but who knows if it will ever be updated, much less finished at this point. 

This story is fantastic. I can not recommend it enough. The relationship dynamics alone are fantastic, never mind the fact that Catgirl is FUCKING FANTASTIC at showing not telling, but even when she tells it is impactful. She has a wonderful grasp of character voice and each POV feels like it is actually that characters POV, told through them, not through the lens of a narrator. There are some amazing quotes in this story, some are just funny, 

Others.. Not so much.... 

These are a bunch of misfits thrown together, fighting to survive, and ultimately building a home. Hell Zarbon sees it and is shocked by it.. He says he is amazed by Vegeta “Floating around this country cottage of a ship, lord and master of an assortment of weaklings.” And Zarbon is right. Vegeta is the lord and master of this rag tag crew, and Bulma is their Queen. Their relationship is the glue that holds this little family together. This story is a tale of their struggle to defeat Frieza, but thats not what this story is ABOUT. This story is about, family, friends, love, home and ultimately all the wholesome things humanity has to offer. Sometimes we fuck up, and fight and create drama, but we persevere through those trials and (hopefully) become stronger, more well rounded and more human. And that is a really nice message. 

As a bonus, @rutbisbe drew this amazing Puar/Raditz fan art for this fic and I love it (AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH)

If you liked this review, after you check this fic out, head over to my A03 and read some of my stuff!

#BTM Fic Review #vengeance #Vegeta x Bulma #go read this freaking fic #its my absolute favorite #I really need an update #PLZ catgirl

[smilesthroughfandoms]

Every Single Star vs. the Forces of Evil episode in one sentence or less

I’ll probably post a more in depth-review later this week, as I have opinions literally no one wants to hear but I will proclaim anyway, and then I’ll probably also due a revision of my ‘Past Queens Connection to Star’ post from way back in season 2. Cause that needs an update.

Anyway, enjoy!

Star Comes to Earth: Princess Cinnamon Roll that Could Kill you comes to earth and meets Misunderstood Safe Kid.

Party With a Pony: Spoopy Wardens hunt for the glitter pony while Star gets ice for Marco’s sweaty back.

Matchmaker: In which we learn it was probably a bad idea to give Star the wand in the first place.

School Spirit: Star misunderstands football and Marco tries to get Ferguson to blow his whistle not in that way.

Monster Arm: “Not my bowels! I love my bowels!”

The Other Exchange Student: Star is jealous of the meatball man from Bakersfieldville.

Cheer Up Star: “It’s supposed to be ironic!”

Quest Buy: Very accurate depiction of what it is like to work in retail.

Diaz Family Vacation: Both Marco and Star see new sides of their dads but that’s not necessarily a good thing

Brittney’s Party: Star and Marco party on a bus that Ludo hijacks

Mewberty: Star gets horny and snares boys in her web but not in that way

Pixtopia: Marco messed up and Alfonso marries Ferguson’s rebound

Lobster Claws: “… You can’t eat children.” “Really? Not even the annoying ones?”

Sleep Spell: “Camera Phooone!”

Blood Moon Ball: We’re suppose to ship them now, right?

Fortune Cookies: Love is never the answer kids

Freeze Day: Father Time offers Star and Marco some mud before riding away on his wheel-mobile pulled by giant time-hamsters I am not making this up.

Royal Pain: King Santa Claus destroy mini-golf

St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses: Princess Prison sure is a nightma–OH MY GOD ARE THOSE CLUBS?!

Mewnipendence Day: No wonder monsters hate Mewmans so much.

The Banagic Wand: Star still doesn’t get Earth and like all of us, Marco is always hungry.

Interdemensional Field Trip: Miss Skullnick fears the “Big Change” while Marco sends Jackie cat memes

Marco Grows a Beard: Ludo is out, Toffee is in, and Marco will probbaly be terrified of beards forever

Storm the Castle: “SURPRISE!”

My New Wand!: DIP DOOOWN

Ludo in the Wild: Wait, since when did Ludo become badass?

Mr. Candle Cares: “Star and I have recently become smooch buddies… On the lips.”

Red Belt: Marco searches for a meaning in life and Star searches for hammer.

Star on Wheels: *epic remix of Marco saying Star is in trouble*

Fetch: Marco can’t open juice and Star runs away from her problems and sending thank you cards

Star vs. Echo Creek: Star gets high and destroys a police car

Wand to Wand: Both Ludo and Star are terrible at magic also major ship tease

Starstruck: Star and her idol Sailor Super Saiyan destroy a park and Marco is 100002% done with this shit

Camping Trip: King Butterfly has a mid-life crisis and tries to control an eagle

Starsitting: They’re gonna be great parents some day.

On the Job: Buff Dad is best dad and buff babies are adorable

Goblin Dogs: “You might think this line is long, but listen to my goblin song!~”

By the Book: Ludo and Star still suck at magic and Glossaryck is a bigger troll than Alex Hirsch

Game of Flags: And I thought my family was dysfunctional...

Girls’ Day Out: Janna is back and is still awesome btw

Sleepover: “TRUTH! STAR HAS A CRUSH ON MA–” *cue fandom freakout*

Gift of the Card: R.I.P.  Rasticore Chaosus Disastorvayne… He couldn’ get his fucking chainsaw to work

Friendenemies: Star becomes one with Christmas tree while Tom and Marco go on a date and sing a romantic pop ballad.

Is Mystery: Meatfork is apparently a family name and Ludo is really starting to freak me out tbh

Hungry Larry: “He’s still hungry…”

Spider with a Top Hat: He tries and he is awesome and that’s all that matters

Into the Wand: SPAAAAADESS!!!

Pizza Thing: Marco is OCD about mushroom and Pony Head buys skinny jeans

Page Turner: Moon, how did you miss Toffee in the orb he was right there!

Naysaya: Marco is a mood in this episode

Bon Bon the Birthday Clown: Honestly my favorite episode overall

Raid the Cave: Glossaryck is the true neutral asshole.

Trickstar: Weird Al is a treasure and I’ll mes up anyone who makes Marco cry!

Baby: Aw, look at the little deadly baby, I love her!

Running With Scissors: Marco gets a new edition to his shipping harem and she is so cute!

Mathmagic: Why did the chicken cross the road?

The Bounce Lounge: Marco is definitely the mom friend.

Crystal Clear: The Chancellor guy is amazing and Rhombulus just needs a hug and wAS THAT ECLIPSA IN THE BACKGROUND?

The Hard Way: “SURPRISE!” 2.0

Heinous: Oh, so that’s how Marco got all that money.

All Belts Are Off: This is the negative side of “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” trope done splendidly

Collateral Damage: Marco how do you not know what a possum is?

Just Friends: I’m fine! *blows up sign to prove just how fine I am*

Face the Music: This song is actually a banger

Star Crushed: Looking back, I’m starting to think the writing peaked at this episode....

BATTLE FOR MEWNI EDITION!!!!!

Return to Mewni: This is… just an exposition filler. Not much else to say….

Moon the Undaunted: B4! B4! B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4!

Book Be Gone: Seriously, did Glossy take trolling lessons from Alex Hirsch this is hilarious!

Marco and the King: This is the  “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” done slightly better

Puddle Defender: Aw, look at the little buff babies, they’re getting so big!

King Ludo: The mime stole the show.

Toffee: Yeah, I think the writing peaked somewhere around here...

Scent of Hoodie: Huh, so Ponyhead can be written as likeable, who would’ve thought?

Rest in Pudding: The colors are not doing the censors any favor here, huh?

Club Snubbed: I literally yelled “Phrasing!” whenever they dropped the title

Stranger Danger: Is she the new antagonist of the series? I can’t tell

Demoncism: Tom is a wonderful baby boy and Ponyhead is written as likeable, part 2!

Sophmore Slump: *sobbing* Jackie deserved better, dang it!

Lint Catcher: I’m starting to wonder if there is any competant authority figure in Mewni

Trial by Squire: I think the writers were all like” You think these guys will ship anyone with Marco?” and decided to test that theory.

Princess Turdina: I got more lore out of this episode than I thought I would.

Starfari: Welp, she makes me uncomfortable.

Sweet Dreams: *Sailor Moon-ing intensifies*

Lava Lake Beack: Proof that this fandom will ship anyone with Marco at the slightest inclanation

Death Peck: Rich Pigeon is my new favorite birb and Ponyhead is written as likeable for the third time

Ponymonium: Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Night Life: The writers made so many new ships they had to get rid of an old one!

Deep Dive: “Chicken butt”

Monster Bash: Well, that explains the cheekmarks.

Stump Day: I think they just made an episode based around a picture from that bookcover.

Holiday Special: *insert every cheesy Christmas/Holiday episode trope here*

The Bog Beast of Boggabah: The title is fun to say and the episode is average at best.

Total Eclipsa the Moon: Seriously, I’m supposed to think she’s an ultimate villain.

Butterfly Trap: In which we are all Sean, don’t lie we were all him at the end

Ludo, Where Art Thou?: Dennis is best brother, hands down.

Is Another Mystery: *sniff* I got more emotional over this episode than anyone else did and I’m not sure how I feel about that

Marco Jr.: I… I just… Why? What’s the point?

Skooled!: Epic advertisment fakeout combined with wonderful character development and lore with a shock ending makes a 8/10 episode.

Booth Buddies: Old Man McGucket ships Starco, proceed to react accordingly

Bam Ui Pati!: Ponyhead is kinda likeable in this episod–nevermind she’s back.

Tough Love: Oh man, it’s happening! It’s happening guys here we go!

Divide: We are going to war everybody–And they’re all dead. That was quick.

Conquer: They should have paid Alex HIrsch to voice Glossaryck at this point, it’d be more in character for him.

Butterfly Follies: Proof that someone will always complain about politics no matter what.

Escape from the Pie Folk: Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that he kinda resembles Eclipsa more than Festivia?

Moon Remembers: I was expecting a freakout but was pleasantly surprised

Swim Suit: I’m starting to get a bad feeling about Rhombulus

Ransomgram: Why is everyone in this dimesnion hot?!

Lake House Fever: She’s a good mom

Yada Yada Berries: They missed an opportunity to have a Seinfeld actor guest-star, just saying

Down by the River: I’m glad that she can relax

The Ponyhead Show!: And Ponyhead is offically no longer likeable, can someone toss her into an abyss please?

Surviving the Spiderbites: SpiderSlime is canon proceed to react accordingly

Out of Buisness: How did this place go out of buisness???

Kelly's World: Man, they’re really setting these non-Starco ships up to fail, huh?

Curse of the Blood Moon: Pfft, yeah, sure, Starco won’t be canon at all!

Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell: I think Ludo has the most consistent character arc out of the entire show’s history.

Ghost of Butterfly Castle: Moon, Star is your daughter and Star supports Eclipsa, why would you not tell her?

Cornball: This episode has a heartwarming lesson that I hope more people come to realize

Meteora's Lesson: I’ll take any Toffee scenes I can get

The Knight Shift: I honestly don’t remember what happened n this episode

Queen-Napped: Seriously, can someone please dropkick Ponyhead into an abyss?

Junkin' Janna: The JanTom interaction I’ve been waiting for

A Spell with No Name: These types of episodes stopped being charming awhile ago

A Boy and His DC-700XE: I think Tomco has more ground to stand-on then Starco at this point

The Monster and The Queen: Don Panchito voices Globgor! There’s hope for this show yet!

Cornonation: They’re the best couple/parents/anything around!

Doop-Doop: I honestly think Rick just put Morty through some flux-capacitor or something

Britta's Tacos: Hey, remember these people that we suddenly brought back? No? Me neither!

Beach Day: This feels like a Season 1 episode and it’s nice

Gone Baby Gone: I want a TV show aout them now! Disney, please!

Sad Teen Hotline: Mr. Diaz is way to invested in Star’s love life.

Jannanigans: Hello last minute Janna character development!

Mama Star: So that’s how Mewni came to be--and I don’t care anymore

Ready, Aim, Fire!: Let’s get that finale ball rolling people!

The Right Way: Ok, that spell is actually pretty badass.

Here to Help: There, Starco’s finally canon will you guys just shut up now!

Pizza Party: Moon you idiot you ruined everything!

The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse: Toffee was right all along... I think we all knew that in some way

Cleaved: I expect nothing substanial and that’s what I got

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #svtfoe2 #svtfoe3 #svtfoe4 #battle for mewni #smilesthroughfandoms #Don't repost without my permission #seriously don't #these are my opinions #scary i know

[risingsouls]

Recruited: Chapter 18

[Hey, this one actually has a little more meat to it! Anyway, here’s some emotional shit for you. I was actually going to make this go through the fight with Ginyu at the ship, but since Nabs likely won’t be super involved in that, it didn’t quite feel like the natural place to end the chapter the more I wrote. 

Bonus note: while I was editing, “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain came on Spot.ify while she was *SPOILERS* doing some killing and it was honestly hilarious. 

ANYWAY, as usual, you can find the rest here!]

Nabooru

Nabooru regained consciousness slumped against the same wall Vegeta blasted her into, the back of her head pounding from the impact. She shoved another soldier's corpse from her lap and regained her feet, senses immediately reaching out for first Vegeta's familiar ki. She located the prince's energy. In motion and rapidly zipping across the planet. Frieza's overwhelming ki remained near the ship along with what remained of his forces. Zarbon's was nowhere to be found.

She sensed the approach of the five menacing power levels before she located Frieza awaiting the arrival of the Ginyu Force outside the ship. He did little more than comment that he was surprised she survived Vegeta's attack, confirming that Zarbon had not been so lucky. The pods crashed into the planet's surface not far from them, interrupting any chance for further conversation. Fortunate for her, perhaps; though she survived, she failed to stop Vegeta. A success for her but a failure in Frieza's eyes that could have earned her the most brutal of punishments.

The five members of one of the Cold Empire's most prestigious forces could not have been more diverse. Or odd with their penchant for flair and over the top poses which they showed off in way of introduction and greeting. She recognized the captain from his image on the screen during his meeting with Frieza. The tallest member of the team--Burter--resembled a blue, bipedal snake. Recoome had Nappa's tall, muscular build but kept his untidy crop of ginger hair unlike the bald Saiyan. The smallest member of the team, Guldo, was short and squatty with an extra pair of eyes. Jeice stood as tall as Vegeta, perhaps, and sported long, snow white hair. He delivered the case holding the requested scouters to Frieza. Though unneeded, she took the scouter offered to her and fit it to her face.

She suspected impatience and secondhand embarrassment urged Frieza to send the team off with orders to retrieve the dragonballs and bring Vegeta back to him alive. The tyrant filled their wait time--short, too short--with idle conversation about what he planned to do first with his immortality, and she nodded along while monitoring the meeting across planet at his request. She reported that the Ginyu Force found Vegeta, and that the scouter picked up two other readings with him. Likely the same pair they encountered at the last village they conquered. Within minutes, Ginyu parted from the rest of the group and headed back in their direction. Alone. Vegeta wouldn't go with him willingly, that was obvious. But her stomach churned with the possibilities of why Ginyu would leave Vegeta with his team instead of remaining to force him to comply.

When he arrived, he confirmed her most dire suspicion: all seven dragonballs drifted from him to rest at Frieza's feet. The emperor's glee was palpable and she was surprised he found even the split second it took to end Ginyu's "Dance of Joy" prematurely. Her mind raced with courses of action. Grab a dragonball and throw it. Break it. Try to run Frieza through with a ki sword or decapitate him before he could make his wish and deal with Ginyu's retaliation after. Think up some distraction from the ludicrous request of asking Ginyu to finish his dance to destroying the ship. Escape.

Frieza raised his voice and demanded immortality to the heavens and she found herself inert and unable to act on any of it. Several agonizing seconds passed by with none in the vicinity daring to make a sound. Watching. Waiting. And in Nabooru's case, trying to keep from vomiting on the orange spheres. Ginyu finally broke the silence, voicing what they all were thinking: had it worked? Was Frieza immortal and, therefore, unstoppable as the undisputed ruler of the universe? It was all she could do not to suggest he allow her to help him test it, but Frieza decided on his own it hadn't and deigned to personally track down whatever remained of the Namekians to request instructions on how to activate the balls, leaving her alone with Captain Ginyu and the rest of the soldiers.

She wanted to find amusement in Ginyu forcing the remaining soldiers to bury the dragonballs--the location of which she took keen note of-- and the following try out session the captain forced them to endure to fill the unexpected opening at Guldo's swift defeat (which she only reasoned her way out of with the excuse that Freiza likely wouldn't be pleased if he tried to recruit his last general without his permission), one they both witnessed via their scouters. Her continued monitoring of the battle between Vegeta, the two strangers, and the three remaining members of the Ginyu Force kept her from enjoying the show as Guldo would be the only success for Vegeta: within minutes, his and the strangers' ki signatures hovered dangerously close to zero. Lips parted to relay the information to Ginyu, who was berating the lackluster posing skills he witnessed, only to stop short when another power level appeared. A significant one. With all the members of the Ginyu Force accounted for and Frieza on the other side of the planet, she could only guess that some powerful Namekian warrior had just now decided to jump into the fray. But doubt circulated such a theory: with how proud and courageous the rest had been, why would this one wait so long?

One, two power levels lowered. The third raced back in their direction. All those of the remaining Ginyu Force members. The downed ki signatures were then reduced to nothing, but she was pulled from her confusion, the ever-raging battle between hope and anxiety especially with a new contender she could not identify as friend or foe placed on hold, by a panicked, battered Jeice rejoining them.

"Captain!" The warrior sounded as though he might burst into tears at any moment. "Captain, you've got to come quick! This guy, this Saiyan, just showed up outta nowhere and trounced Recoome and Burter like they were nothing!"

Another Saiyan? Jeice would know Nappa by name, likely, and this power level far exceeded what Nappa could have managed in the short amount of time since she lost track of him. The only other Saiyan she knew of was Raditz's brother. Had he come to Namek? Did that mean the other two who saved the Namekian child were in fact Earthlings? Why would they come all this way?

"A Saiyan? You don't mean Vegeta? He's no match for Recoome or Burter, and the rest of the Saiyans are dead." Ginyu waved a hand, allowing those he hadn't sent into orbit over a sloppy turn or weak arm extension. "At ease, men."

Jeice shook his head. "No, Recoome dealt with Vegeta like he was nothing. But this other guy showed up before we could finish the job with the kid, baldy, and Vegeta and took Recoome out with one blow!"

"What?! That's impossible! No Saiyan could stand up to Recoome and Burter! Let alone so swiftly!" When Jeice failed to rescind his report as a joke, Ginyu growled. "Well, we can't just let him get away with such an egregious affront to the esteemed Ginyu Force!"

He turned to Nabooru. "Keep guard of the balls, and if Lord Frieza returns before I do, tell him the captain went to take care of business."

"What else would I do?" Her question went unanswered and likely unheard as the pair shot off into the sky, back toward the battlefield Jeice left behind.

Her gaze drifted from the relieved soldiers to the tamped down dirt covering all seven dragonballs. With no more idea of how to work them than Frieza, digging them up and making a wish herself wouldn't do her any good. She once more considered the idea of hiding one to continue to hinder at least Frieza once he returned. At this point, destroying them entirely felt like the best move. The endeavor had been exhausting and more trouble than they were worth for Frieza in her opinion. Who could possibly threaten him? No one held a candle to his power and he knew that. Unless he truly worried about Vegeta gaining immortality himself, the continued quest for immortality in the face of each upset only proved how deep his paranoia went. If any other endeavor had proven this troublesome, Frieza likely would have abandoned it, either as a lost cause or place some other retinue of soldiers on completing it. The fact that he stuck around this long meant he feared losing everything no matter how powerful he was.<

Laughter caught her attention. One of the soldiers entertained the others with a series of lewd poses he suggested they show Ginyu when he returned. No matter her decision, she didn't dare risk an opportunity for witnesses to relay her betrayal to Frieza and bring him back to the ship before she could make her move to hinder his wish.

She grasped her scouter and removed it, fingers curling around the device to crush it. The crunch of plastic and static turned the men's attention to her. One folded his arms and clicked his tongue. "Why'd you do that? We just got these scouters and you go and break yours? Do you like being blind or something?"

Orange-yellow energy swirled in each of her palms, further heightening the soldiers' confusion, glances exchanged between each of them. "Has this boring planet made you lose--"

Nabooru extended her arms and fired a wave of ki, overwhelming the squadron for a clean kill. Save for the one that had enough foresight to spring into the air to avoid the blast, arms crossed and shielding his face from the flash of light and debris.

"You really have lost your damn mind!" Panic struck her as his hand twitched upward toward his face, his scouter. Nabooru cursed under her breath and shot upward. She grasped his wrist halfway to the device in a crushing vice grip. The soldier yelped in agony in lieu of protest when her free hand tore his scouter away and destroyed it. She pressed her hand to the middle of his armor, power coursing through her body once more to center in the palm of her hand.

"Please, I beg you. I won't tell Fr--"

She didn't wait for him to finish his warbling. The blast swallowed him as it had his comrades, leaving no more trace of him behind than dust carried off by the planet's pleasant breeze.

"So, you did survive my blast. I thought I sensed your pathetic power level, but it’s difficult to say among the rest of the mediocrity here..."

Her body went rigid and she whirled around, senses and gaze locking onto the unexpected presence. Vegeta stared up at her from the ground, hands on his hips and a wicked smirk on his face. His armor and battle suit had taken further damage in his bout with Recoome, but outside of stray blood and dirt staining his flesh, he seemed to shrug off the shame of being so thoroughly trounced as Jeice suggested.

Nabooru drifted back to the ground but maintained her wits and guard. Vegeta remained a potential adversary to her despite their shared goal. "I was hoping for a little peace and quiet," she answered, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "And then you showed up."

"Too bad for you," he responded gruffly but not without humor. "Where are the dragonballs?"

Nabooru nodded toward their location. "Over there. Buried." He glanced in the direction she indicated, and she added, "Frieza tried to make his wish but they didn't work. He sought out the last few Namekians to find out how to make his wish."

A growl rumbled from the prince. "Figures. Kakarot and his cronies were right, then." He stalked toward the ship and indicated she follow with an impatient wave of his hand and a glare shot over his shoulder. "Let's go. Consider yourself my prisoner now because you won't be leaving my sight. Got that? Try anything stupid and I will kill you."

Nabooru pursed her lips, nose scrunched in distaste, but followed him back aboard the ship. "You want to track down a collar leash to make sure I don't go anywhere, too?"

"Don't tempt me." 

They trekked through the ship's hall, dodging debris and stepping over corpses of the unlucky retinue Frieza brought with him. They ducked into the crew locker room and storage area, one of the few places on the ship that seemed to have escaped the havoc wreaked upon it since arriving on Namek. Nabooru followed Vegeta's order to lock it behind them, a seemingly unnecessary precaution when everyone outside of Freiza and the Ginyu Force had perished, and from what she could sense, were still engaged in their own affairs.

"Where's your scouter?"

Nabooru turned from the pin pad near the door to face him. "I destroyed it. Before you showed up, I had planned to dig up the dragonballs and hide at least one to keep Frieza from getting his wish. I didn't want the communicator to pick anything up."

"Hmpt…" He pulled the damaged armor over his head, tearing his gloves off with his teeth and kicking off his boots. "That makes you useless in keeping a watch out for Frieza. You could have been in the middle of that little scheme of yours and gotten caught."

"Don't insult me. I'm not an idiot." Nabooru flipped her ponytail and crossed the room to her storage locker. She pulled off her glove and rested her palm against the scanner. With her own battle suit tattered from Vegeta's attack, she decided the current lull was as good a time as any to swap it out for the spare set she brought with her. "I taught myself how to sense energy. I heard you and Nappa talking about how the Earthlings could do it without a scouter, so I decided to figure it out. I wanted any edge here I could get."

Vegeta didn't reply and instead headed toward the back of the room for the showers, peeling off his battle suit as he went. He switched the water on and stepped in. "Good. Keep watch then."

She rolled her eyes and mock saluted him, yanking the tie from her hair and removing first her armor then her battle suit. She was halfway through pulling the fresh top back on when she slowed. "Vegeta, where's your tail?"

He glowered icily from behind the glass door, and she imagined the usual lash of his tail that would accompany a killer glare like that one. "The Earthlings cut it off."

"Oh…" Nabooru slid her armor back over her head and seated herself on one of the benches. She lifted her leg and pulled her burnt red stockings over her feet and up her legs. "You mentioned Kakarot earlier. That was the name of Raditz's brother, wasn't it? He's here? That other power level that showed up a bit later to your fight with Recoome?"

Vegeta grunted, seemingly more focused on scrubbing his face than listening to her. Still, she continued, keen on taking advantage of what would likely be her one chance to shed light on all the confusion surrounding the last few months and fill in the gaps in her knowledge. "So those other two that were here...they're Earthlings, then? Why would they come here though?"

"The same reason you and I are here: the dragonballs." He finished scrubbing the dirt, blood, and grime from his body and kicked the door open. Dripping wet, he stalked to the general storage cabinets, leaving puddles in his wake. "If they listen to Kakarot, they'll be heading this way with their radar and hopefully whatever password they need to summon the dragon."

She almost asked why they wanted them, but assumed Vegeta wouldn't have cared enough to ask. "You don't seem worried about that." She slipped her feet into her boots and replaced her gloves. "Are you going to let them summon this dragon and then steal the wish from under them?"

"Precisely. So long as Ginyu keeps Kakarot busy, it will be no problem."

Nabooru hummed, intrigued by the order in which he named the two men currently engaged in battle from what she could detect. "What Jeice said is true then. Ginyu didn't want to believe a Saiyan defeated Recoome and Burter. Kakarot must be an impressive warrior, then, to first cause you guys and then the Ginyu Force so much trouble."

"Tch, whatever." Nabooru glanced back at the Saiyan, slight amusement dancing in her golden eyes as he angrily jerked a new battle suit of a dark gray hue on. "I'm stronger now, too, so if Kakarot decides to be a problem, I'll kill him."

She hummed, aware that his claims of gaining more power were in fact true after the beating he took from Recoome. Another boost in his strength to further increase the ever growing gap in their power. Annoyed as she was by it, she had one last question she needed answered before either of them could be distracted again. She chewed her lower lip, twisting the hair tie between her gloved fingers.

"What happened to Nappa? Did Kakarot kill him?"

He snorted. "No. He should have, though."

Though his words should have relieved her, for it suggested the chance he still lived, dread twisted her stomach into knots. "Where is he, then? All intel I received suggested he never left Earth."

"That's because he didn't." Vegeta finished pulling his gloves on. "I killed Nappa."

Nabooru was on her feet before she could stop herself, her anguish transforming to rage at the confession. "You what?!" Leather creaked as her hands balled into fists, and Vegeta's continued unbothered demeanor only heightened her anger. "Vegeta, how could you?! Nappa was nothing but loyal to you! Basically raised you! Not to mention one of the very last--"

"Don't patronize me, woman."  He turned to face her fully, dark eyes voids of nothingness. He spoke with the authority of a parent chiding a child that couldn’t know better: “I don’t have to explain anything to you, but killing Nappa was a mercy. As a warrior, one he would have preferred to than being unable to continue to fight. Then or potentially ever again. He was useless to me and himself.”

Her emotional response far outweighed reason, any understanding she found in his words based in her personal and cultural understanding of herself as a warrior or what she had gleaned of the Saiyans. “That’s a leever dung excuse and you know it! You could have easily gotten him back to his pod and sent to the nearest base! You just…” Alarm bells rang in her ears but rage silenced the warnings to stop while she was ahead. Before she said something she didn’t mean and knew was far more complicated than a black and white right or wrong. “You wanted to kill him! You wanted to because you’re a monster! You’re a monster just like Frieza who--”

Her back slammed into the far wall before she saw the attack coming, before her senses caught the quick uptick of his energy as a warning. Vegeta yanked her down to his level by her armor, and his other hand clutched her neck with just enough force to restrict her breathing and bruise.

Rage once more burned in his onyx eyes, a sight somehow less concerning to her than the emptiness she witnessed there not moments before. She met it with her usual defiance, stubborn scowl fighting to keep the natural pain and panic from her features that came with being forced into such a vulnerable, compromised position.

“How dare you,” he seethed. Fingers tightened on her airway, and she bit back a pained squeak. “How dare you compare me to him. I should kill you right now. You’ve given me the information I need, and I’ve more than humored your shit long enough. You’re a weakling, and you’ve more than outlived your usefulness to me.”

She grabbed his wrist, this time unable to hold back her gasp for air or avoid fighting back through the instinctual need to live. Her mind clouded from the lack of oxygen and her lungs burned. Then, the tightness around her neck subsided. She sucked in a heaving breath and just barely managed stretched her arms outward in time to catch herself and keep her face from slamming into the tile floor. She rubbed her neck and refilled her lungs.

“Pathetic…”

Her fingers curled into her palms. Pathetic. A weakling. A whore and a traitor. She could almost feel the blade of ki in her hand, visualized it piercing through his armor, his chest, out his back. His blood dripping from the wound as she forcefully reminded him how powerful she was. What it meant to cross a Gerudo warrior, even one that had a higher tendency toward mercy than many others, scorned and pushed too far. But she knew she couldn’t take him. She knew he was right that he far outmatched her, would stop her attack before it started. And though she wanted to fight him anyway, to engage him in what would likely be a final, infuriated assault, she remembered what was at stake. Home. Her people and seeing them again. Returning to the life she dreamed of night after night and so desperately wanted back. The one ripped from her to serve and do the horrific bidding of a tyrant. Even if the chances of dying far outweighed those of actually making it home with two people ready to off her, if their odds of defeating Frieza depended on everything working out perfectly in their favor without a single hiccup, proving herself to a man who would never see her worth again, who had written her off as the worst sort the moment Frieza promoted her, felt insignificant.

Jaw tight, she pushed herself back up to her feet and refused to meet his gaze. The tension within the enclosed room threatened to suffocate her faster than his hand at her throat, but she refused to break it. To speak to him. She had nothing to say between her anger and grief. No matter how her mind whispered she should swallow her pride and apologize to some degree for comparing him to Frieza, she refused to entertain the idea. Her conscience would cease to matter when she was murdered or finally, finally, made it back to her home.

Any inner turmoil she battled was forgotten when a pair of ki signatures approaching and landing outside of the ship alerted her and, if his glance toward the side meant anything, Vegeta. “Finally.” He strode to the door and opened it. “Let’s go. Keep your mouth shut and stay close to me. Once the dragon is summoned, we’ll ambush them. Got it?”

He didn’t wait for her reply and disappeared into the hall again, the tap of his boots on the tile quickened with his revived urgency. Nabooru bent to retrieve the dropped hair band and pushed her hair back into her usual high ponytail, twisting the elastic around her thick, crimson locks. With the fleeting consideration to steal the wish for herself, use it to teleport her back to her homeworld, she followed Vegeta out of the ship. Though she had little faith the prince would keep his word to her when this was all over, she would keep hers. Her desire to do it for him and the justice he deserved waned, but freeing herself from Freiza meant freeing her people from him. Thus, no matter how tempting, sabotage was out of the question.

She would continue to aid Vegeta for now. Until he made his wish and killed Frieza. Until she could escape Namek and return home.

#fic: recruited #got a little emotional for me at the end man

[the-lupine-sojourner]

Sarada, Princess of the Saiyans ‘Season’ 1, Episode 4

Hey hey hey! Surprise! Another chapter! :)

No one cares, but anyway I love writing this so here we are. 

Anyway, I hope you guys like it! 

I did make that Masterlist I mentioned past chapter. I’ll be updating the masterlist as I go along, adding the link to every chapter, making a new masterlist for each ‘season’. 

Okay enough talking! Let’s get to the chapter!

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

I couldn't wait to put this one out lol. Had it all ready to go so I figured why wait? Anyway, hope you all like this chapter! I'd love to hear what y'all think of Sarada and this story so far! :)

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

Much as I hate killing innocent people, I can’t help but almost anticipate this fight. The Saiyan craving for battle was always there, in some way, even if I were merely spectating.

However, that changed when Gohan started trembling, scared out of his mind.

It reminded me just what was happening here; we were about to watch a child get murdered. I know he has a pretty high power level for his age, but that doesn’t change the fact that he couldn’t have been much older than 5. He should still be sparring, not fighting a losing battle for his planet!

But then again, he is the son of a Saiyan, so perhaps he would find some hidden strength like his father and overcome the challenge of the Saibamen. Perhaps.

The bald one glances over. “Gohan, pay attention!” He chides, still in a fighting stance. “Your thoughts are unfocused.” Gohan nods, swallowing. He gets into a tighter stance, eyes narrowing in bravado.

“O-okay!” He says, clearly putting on a brave face.

“You don’t have to be scared.” Piccolo adds, never taking his eyes off us or loosening his stance. Now that I take another look, and have seen them interact more, I notice how similar Piccolo and Gohan’s clothes were and how familiar they seemed with each other.

Had they trained together? Were Gohan and Piccolo student and teacher?

“Right!” Gohan replies, sounding a bit more confident.

That confidence was instantly lost as the Saibamen leapt forward to attack, Gohan returning to a scarred little boy on the battlefield. Despite the fact that he’s our enemy right now, I almost want to protect him.

Luckily, the battle is fought around Gohan, resulting in him looking confused and terrified, but unharmed as his allies take on our henchmen.

That ends, however, when there’s a lull in the fight and one of the Saibamen notices Gohan, attacking instantly. Despite his power level, Gohan can’t seem to block or dodge, taking the hit and going flying. I narrow my eyes.

“For pity’s sake!” I growl, voice low, trying to sound like Vegeta would, arms crossed to prevent myself lashing out at the Saibamen for such a cowardly attack, and to appear irritated at Gohan’s lack of battle prowess. “Doesn’t that boy have any training?” I notice that the Namekian appeared to have heard me, head twitching very subtly in my direction, but the next instant he’s standing protectively in front of Gohan.

Good. At least Gohan has some backup. I think in relief. Maybe he’d survive after all.

The Saibamen stop short, unsure of taking the pair of them on at once.

“Gohan, believe in yourself!” Piccolo snaps. Gohan stares at the Saibamen, still scarred.

“I’ll...try.” He replies.

“Don’t try; do it!” Piccolo growls in response as Gohan gets to his feet, trying that brave face again.

“Right!”

“Awww.” Nappa coos condescendingly. “Isn’t that cute?” Gohan seems a little unsettled by the remark, and I have to play the part of a tough Saiyan, despite actually finding the exchange sweet.

“The teacher and the student, fighting side by side. Warms my heart.” I add, hand dramatically spread over my heart, snide smirk on my face.

I really hate having to wear this mask, but if I take it off, I’m doomed.

“Mine, too.” Vegeta agrees sarcastically, snickering.

“Don’t listen to those jerks, Gohan.” The bald earthling advises. “They’ll get what’s coming to ‘em soon enough!”

Before anyone can say or do anything else, there’s a high pitched voice coming from up above us. “Krillan!” I frown. Who- -what the hell?

Descending from the sky is arguably the oddest couple of fighters I’ve seen in my life.

One was a very muscular earthling (at least, I think he’s an earthling) with three eyes and no shirt. His toned chest was bare, showing off some impressive looking scars and his history with fighting. His pants were of a similar style to Gohan and Piccolo’s, covering half his abdomen, the dark green pants and gold belt highlighting his tanned skin. The oddest part about him was his third eye, centered in his forehead.

The other one...was a mime. His face was white, looking almost painted, with little red circles on his cheeks and wide, childlike eyes. He had a grey tank top on and pants similar to the burly man’s, so I can assume they trained together, like Piccolo and Gohan.

The bald earthling (was he ‘Krillan’?) turns, smiling, to greet the newcomers. “Hey, guys!” He calls. I raise a brow. Was he seriously dropping his guard just because his friends showed up?

“Hi, Krillan!” The mime replies. So that confirms the name theory.

“Thanks for stopping by!” Krillan says as if this were no more than a simple errand run or something. The mime nods. “We could use the help.” I sigh. If they get past the Saibaman, they’d have us to deal with, so it’s pointless even correcting Krillan. I think it’d be better to let our actions speak for us. The big guy narrows his eyes at the Saibamen.

“Looks like the Saiyans brought some of their friends along for the ride.” He muses. Krillan cracks a smile as he glances over at us.

“No...they grew them here.” The two newcomers blink.

“What?” The mime asks.

“Don’t ask.” Krillan replies with a chuckle. The big guy frowns.

“That’s okay; it doesn’t really matter.” Now I’ve heard his voice, I can at least know that this isn’t Kakarot. The big guy then looks at Gohan.

“Who’s the kid? It that Goku’s little boy?” He asks. Krillan nods as Gohan looks at the newcomer.

“Uh-huh. His names’s Gohan. Piccolo’s been training him.” I smirk. That confirms my suspicions about the outfits and their meaning. Burly Guy (that’s what I’ll call him til I learn his name) nods, eyes narrowing in seriousness.

“He’s bold like his father.” Burly Guy notes. The mime smiles and looks ready to say something when Nappa finally gets irritated.

“Enough of this garbage!” He snaps. “Saibamen! I wanna hear them beg for mercy.” I swallow. Here we go. Time to watch this group get killed. The group gets into a fighting stance as the Saibamen prepare to charge. I set my jaw and prepare myself, but then there’s a voice from above that interrupts yet again.

“Wait for me!” It calls, sounding male. Sure enough, a man in an orange training outfit with a blue belt to match Krillan lands near the other earthlings, standing and turning, smiling cockily at his friends. “What’s up?” He asks. “Sorry I’m late.” I sigh.

“He-hey, Yamcha!” Krillan cheers. The newest intruder into our battle, this Yamcha character, smiles in sheer arrogance. I sigh. He doesn’t look all that impressive, similar to the others to be any real threat. He was just cocky, that’s all. His hair is long and unkempt, reminding me of Radditz. I decide I don’t really like Yamcha.

“So, why’s everyone acting so serious around here?” He asks.

“If you’d arrived earlier, you’d know, earthling.” I growl, more to myself than this Yamcha, arms crossing again in genuine annoyance. I hated prolonging a fight like this. Yamcha seems to sober up a little.

“Regardless, Sarada, it’s six against six; their warriors against our Saibamen. It's perfect.” Vegeta adds. I nod.

“Even numbers should be more fun to watch.” I agree. And I genuinely wanted to see how this played out.

“Agreed. This may just prove to be interesting after all.” Vegeta continues.

Nappa chuckles. “I can’t wait.” Vegeta cocks his head to the side as though he has an idea.

“Gentlemen, how would you like to make a match of this and fight our soldiers one by one?” I almost want to hug Vegeta. This way, there’s a chance that, just maybe, a few could survive and I should be able to convince Nappa and my brother to let them live, provided they tell us where the Dragonballs are and how to use them. No one replies immediately, so I spread my arms.

“It’s really in your best interest.” I shrug as if unbothered by the thought of either outcome. “It’s the best offer you’ll get out of us. It should prove an entertaining game, at least.” I add. Please...please take the challenge. Please!

“Well?” Vegeta demands. “You heard my sister. What’s your answer?”

Piccolo growls, setting his jaw as if offended by the offer. “We aren’t here to play games! And we’re not going to fight on your terms!” He snaps. I frown. Crap! “We’ll take you all on at once!” I click my tongue as if to chide him like a child.

“That’s not wise, if you want to survive. Of course, either way, you won’t last long, but you might want to consider Gohan.” Piccolo and Gohan flinch. I knew it was a low blow, the enemy bringing up a point like that, but if I were to convince them to take the offer, this might be the way to do it.

“How dare you bring him into this?!” Picollo roars. I stand my ground, not looking sorry (because I wasn’t) and glaring right back at him.

“He-hey, now. Easy.” Krillan pipes up. “Crazy and cruel as they are, the woman has a point. Besides, we are still waiting for Goku to show up.” Krillan adds. “We could buy ourselves some time if we play it their way.” Piccolo glares at me, and I know I definitely crossed a line. I do feel bad, but if it all works out, I think he’ll forgive me. Gohan moves a little more behind Piccolo and my heart pangs in sympathy. It was scary for me, at first, but I quickly learned I had to be strong. Gohan had to learn that lesson eventually.

Burly Guy steps forward, making up his mind with a confident smirk. “I’ll go first.” He announces. “I’m not afraid of these creeps.” He pounds his fists together in a show of bravery. “It’ll be a good warm up.” Nappa laughs.

“That’s the spirit!” He replies happily. I exhaled in relief. At least they were going one on one. I didn’t care that they were stalling. In fact, I was starting to hope Goku (who I believe is Kakarot) does show up. It’ll be interesting to meet Radditz’s long-lost brother. If he’s as strong as Radditz, he’ll be a good challenge for the Saibamen, if they’re still around by then.

Something tells me they might not be. These Earthlings seem to be pretty confident, but…

“We’ll see how long you last.” I muse, finally about to see some action. Part of me knows it most likely won’t end well, but the Saiyan side of me is excited to finally see what these Earthlings can do.

“Exactly, Sarada!” Nappa cheers. “Fresh meat for the grinder!” I roll my eyes as Burly Man prepares himself. “But just wait! You won’t be so cocky when you see what these ‘little creeps’ can do!” Nappa warns. Burly Guy seems unbothered. The Saibamen cackle in response.

“Alright.” Burly Guy notes, watching the Saibamen laugh. “I hear a lot of noise, but no volunteers.” He taunts. Vegeta then turns to a random Saibaman.

“Alright, you go, but don’t hold anything back, got it?” He instructs sternly. The Saibaman grins in anticipation, nodding and walking closer to his opponent. The mime, appearing very worried for his friend, calls out.

“Tien, be careful!” So that’s Burly Guy’s name. Tien. Somehow, it seems fitting for a no-nonsense, straightforward man as this Earthling appears to be. Just then, as if the universe itself didn’t want any fighting to happen anytime soon, those strange flying machines from earlier appear on the horizon, quickly coming closer. I grit my teeth.

“What an annoying machine!” I growl.

“Of course the news shows up.” Krillan grumbles, as if he too were irritated by the flying machines’ presence and interruption. I then realize what the machines were. It appears, based on what Krillan said, that these machines provided the planet with recordings of major events or anything interesting that was happening. We simply spread news by word of mouth, if I remember right, before we depended on the Scouters to gets new information out. Nappa laughs.

“So, you want some news, do yah?” He notes to himself, and I hear the very faint buzzing of an energy attack being charged. Before I can tell him not to waste energy destroying the news machines, he fires. “Now you are the news!” He calls, as the ball of ki hits one of the center machines. It explodes, causing the few closest to it to explode in a chain reaction. Gohan and Krillan seem shaken as the debris rains down and the few remaining machines retreat. “Good! No more distractions!” Nappa exclaims, “Now what do you say we get this fight started?” The Saibaman nods, and Tien seems ready, as well. The Saibaman and Tien size each other up for a few moments, then the Saibaman grits his teeth and runs forward, slashing at Tien, who seems to use some type of unknown energy move to shove the Saibaman back with two fingers, sprinting after his target with a shout. The Saibaman lands on its feet, leaping out the next instant to open its head and spewing forth the acidic substance it holds in its empty skull. The splash of the liquid reaches to the other Earthlings, who dodge, Piccolo grabbing Gohan to ensure the kid was out of the way. Good. I’d hate to see him get melted cus he couldn’t react fast enough. Although, with his power level, it shouldn’t have been a second thought.

Gohan was proving an interesting study. He seems completely defenseless in battle, but Krillan confirmed that Gohan had trained with Piccolo.

So my guess is this is his first-ever combat experience. The unlucky kid happened to be up against Saibamen and Saiyans. His only hope is potentially in his father’s appearance. And that was an unknown.

“Wow. Thanks.” Gohan mumbles, gazing in terror at the canyon carved by the acid. Tien lands at the Saibaman’s back, leaping toward it with another shout. The Saibaman whirls, and leaps up, but Tien’s leap carries him with the Saibaman, and Tien lands a solid blow to his opponent’s abdomen. The Saibaman is winded, falling to the ground with a pained expression on its face.

“What?! Impossible!” Nappa exclaims.”

“Calm down.” I retort. “We noticed the original three had been training. The newcomers seem to have prepared for our arrival as well. Besides, the Saibaman hasn’t lost yet.” Even as I say that, however, the Saibaman crumples to the ground, twitching and unable to get up. “...never mind.” I growl, embarrassed at being proven wrong so quickly. Krillan and the mime cheer their friend’s victory as Tien lands.

“Go, Tien! Great move!” Krillan congratulates.

“Alright!” Gohan adds, smiling happily. I notice the Saibaman seeming to recover a little, but hold back that information.

“You’re the best, Tien!” The mime chimes in.

“Thanks.” Tien replies, sounding just barely winded from his fight. Perhaps he was right; maybe his power level was such that the Saibaman was a good warm up. Vegeta gets his ‘I’m disappointed and annoyed’ face, glaring at the Saibaman who was still on the ground.

“Looks like you got hold of a weak batch, Nappa.” He growls. I step forward, knowing what was about to happen.

“Hold on. I just said the Earthlings more than likely trained to prepare for our arrival. It’s possible he just got a lucky shot in.”

“Yeah!” Nappa agrees shakily, stunned the Saibaman was defeated and also aware of the cost of its defeat. “These Saiabaman are all good! These’re the same ones that survived that crazy battle on Traddick.” I flinch. I have scars from that insane battle. We’d been ambushed, barely getting the Saibaman out in time to get their help. If we hadn’t, it could’ve spelled disaster for us. I could have lost Vegeta… “He should’ve won!” Nappa continues, cutting off that train of thought, thankfully. It wasn’t a pleasant trip. “His power level’s 1200!” The Saibaman in question was on its hands and knees, still utterly winded after Tien’s punch. “All of these Saibaman have the same fighting power as…” He realizes who he’s talking about and why it wasn’t a good defense and stops short of naming him.

“As who?” Vegeta presses, smirking. He knew who Nappa was about to name.

“As...Radditz.” Nappa continues, swallowing. Vegeta’s smirk increases.

“Now do you see my point?” Vegeta asks.

“Well…”

“Don’t stress yourself.” I interject, smirking. Sometimes, Nappa was a little slow. It was kinda fun to tease him.

“Yes. Leave the thinking to me and Sarada from now on.” Vegeta adds. I sigh. Now that we addressed the issue of the Saibaman’s power level, it was time to deal with the Saibaman’s failure.

Tien walks toward his companions and the Saibaman begins to get back on this feet. “Tien, that one’s getting back up!” The mime warns, fear in his eyes. Tien turns to look as Vegeta raises two fingers.

It was over in an instant. One second, the Saibaman was there, the next Vegeta extends energy-riddled fingers and the Saibaman explodes.

Everyone but me is stunned. The earthlings look on in terror at the remains of the poor Saibaman. I sigh softly, but don’t let myself react too much.

Nappa, however, does not. “Vegeta, why?!” He exclaims.

“He wasn’t of any use to us anymore.” Vegeta replies apathetically.

“I know, but...he was...alive!” Nappa insists. As part of the act, I scoff.

“Don’t tell me you’ve gotten soft, Nappa.” He flinches a little, knowing what being soft would mean. I agreed with Nappa, but had to play the part of the tough Saiyan Princess.

“N-no, Sarada. Of course not. I just...I don’t understand.” Nappa presses.

“It would have been pointless to let him continue, Nappa.” Vegeta cuts in, “He was losing, which leads me to believe he wasn’t trying his hardest.” He glares at the other quacking Saibaman who now understood the stakes. Death to the Earthlings or death to Vegeta. “I specifically told him not to hold anything back.”

“Whoa. Talk about ruthless.” Krillan mumbles, eyes still wide in surprise. I then notice Piccolo observing with a grim expression. He knew the stakes if they lose.

What he didn’t know was that I would try to spare him and perhaps Gohan, as well, if things play out right. And then try to get Piccolo to tell us everything he knows about the Dragonballs.

Now to see if I can pull this off. “So, who’s going next?” Vegeta asks. The Saibamen now seem a little reluctant to join in, having witnessed Vegeta’s execution. Nappa grits his teeth, knowing what might happen if none of them volunteer; Vegeta could decide to exterminate all of them.

“Alright, if no one steps up, we’ll have a free-for-all!” Nappa growls. Piccolo narrows his eyes.

“That’s fine by me. Let’s do it!” Krillan, surprisingly, steps forward, suddenly looking brave.

“No. I’ll go next.” He announces. Yamcha, too, steps forward, shocking everyone.

“Hold on, Krillan.”

“What’s up?” Krillan asks, a little unnecessarily. It should have been obvious.

“Let me go, would yah? I’m really anxious to show these guys what we’re really all about down here on this planet.” I grin. He was a brave one, no doubt. I almost want to know just how long he’d last against the Saibamen.

Krillan frowns. “That’s great, but I’ve got this one, okay?” Yamcha shakes his head.

“You already been wished back with the Dragonballs once.” I raise a brow. There was a limit to the times you bring someone back from the dead? How interesting. “I haven’t.” Yamcha continues, “So if anything happens, at least we know that I can be revived.” I found that a solid plan. Too bad they’d likely all die here. To Saibamen, or us Saiyans. “Sit this one out, Krillan. You’ll get your chance, don’t you worry about that.” Krillan sees his friend’s bravery and acquiesces.

“Okay...he’s all yours.” Krillan replies. Nappa laughs.

“How touching. I’m all warm and tingly. Heh.” He turns to a random Saibaman. “Now go kill him!” The 180-degree turn in what Nappa said makes me laugh. Coincidentally, it made it seem like I was mocking Yamcha, so it worked out.

Yamcha readied himself. “Alright then! C’mon! Let’s get this over with.” Vegeta chuckles.

“This one seems eager.” He notes. I nod. However, something told me this wouldn’t end well for the Earthling.

“Yeah, right. Eager to die, that is.” Nappa replies as the Saibaman approaches its opponent. Yamcha runs into action, the pair evenly matched as the fight reaches a new speed, almost invisible to the untrained eye.

It appears that Gohan doesn’t have trained eyes, looking around like he can’t see what’s happening.

“They vanished!” Gohan exclaims in shock. I smirk. The poor boy.

I could have seen what was happening before I could throw a punch. Father made sure to let Vegeta and I watch fights to get used to seeing intense, fast-paced action. It was almost shameful Gohan hadn’t been taught how to follow fights like this by now.

“Nonsense!” Piccolo retorts, as if a little embarrassed by his student’s lack of progress. “They’re just moving very fast! Try to feel out their energies!” He snaps. It was sweet he was turning this into a solid teaching moment, but it also revealed a weakness in Gohan. Although, it seemed that hole in the boy’s training was about to be filled.

Gohan frowns. “Feel their energies?” I also frown. Was that actually possible? Piccolo nods.

“All of us are watching them right now except you, Gohan.” Piccolo explains, and sure enough, Krillan, the mime, the Tien were all watching alongside Vegeta, Nappa, and I.

“What?! You can see them?!” Gohan asks incredulously. He then narrows his eyes in concentration. “...M’kay…” He mumbles, trying to watch the fight, too. It was frankly kind of adorable, the warm feeling almost entirely foreign to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t outwardly express it.

“Don’t focus on a specific point.” Piccolo instructs. “Let your eyes take in your entire surroundings.” I wonder if he’s teaching Gohan to sense energies and try it out for myself, letting my eyes take in everything they could. “Remember, you’re not trying to see their bodies, but the light the energies of their bodies gives off.” Piccolo continues, and I’d almost swear he was speaking directly to me. It felt...weird, so I stop and watch the fight as I had done before, heart feeling oddly unsettled. Luckily, neither of my companions had noticed, and it doesn’t seem anyone else had, either, so I pretend I’d never stopped watching normally.

“Stupid Namekian.” I grumble, so softly I almost couldn’t hear myself. He’d unsettled me, and I couldn’t afford to let it happen again.

“I can hear them, Piccolo!” Gohan says after a few moments. I continue watching the fight. It was going rather slowly, all things considered. They were pretty evenly matched, turns out, so the fight was dragging on.

“Good. Now stay relaxed. Continue to look. Don’t blink your eyes.” Piccolo tells Gohan. Despite myself, I stow those instructions away to try again when the Namekian wasn’t there to unsettle me. The ability to sense energies was most unusual and I wanted to try to learn how it.

Gohan continues to follow his teacher’s instructions, moments later gasping in shock. Piccolo seems happy. “Now you see.” He notes. I smile a little, feeling happy Gohan was finally catching up. Eventually, the Saibaman leapt up, so did Yamcha, but Yamcha seemed to have a plan, zipping around the Saibaman so he was above it, then he unleashed a kind of energy attack with a shout, slamming the Saibaman into the ground with enough force to make a crater. To be honest, I was surprised. I was so certain he wouldn’t last against the Saibaman. Huh. The earthlings were all cheering as Yamcha descended.

“Alright!” Krillan exclaims.

“Wow! Great!” Gohan adds. Suddenly, I noticed the Saibaman twitching as if to get up. It’s then I remember the Saibaman can self-destruct. Uh-oh.

“That’s two!” Nappa cries, absolutely stunned. Yamcha lands, looking at his handiwork for a moment then he turns to us.

“Wow. That was easy. Guess we’re in a different league altogether than your little green goon squad.” I narrow my eyes. I definitely didn’t like Yamcha.

“You cocky- -” Nappa begins, fist clenched.

“Nappa!” Vegeta interjects. “Relax.” He orders.

“Now then, what d’you say I take on the other four by myself?” As Yamcha spoke, the Saibaman was starting to actually move to stand. I knew then it was over for the cocky Earthling. The Saibaman would use self-destruct and Yamcha would be dead.

“Yamcha, are you nuts?!” Krillan exclaims. I grin.

“By all means, if you think you can, earthling.” I laugh. It was easy to mock someone I don’t like.

“Indeed, Sarada.” Vegeta agrees, laughing as well. “That, I’d like to see.” His grin turns sinister. “Too bad I won’t get the chance.”

“Oh, yeah? Bring ‘em on!” Yamcha shoots back. I force myself to watch as the Saibaman leaps up, almost too quick for anyone to see, latching on to Yamcha tightly.

Vegeta smirks, pleased the Saibaman was giving everything he could. Piccolo notices Vegeta’s smirk and his eyes go wide.

“It’s over.” He mumbles.

“Oh no!” Gohan cries. Piccolo was right; it was over. Yamcha could struggle all he wanted, but nothing could spare him. Seconds later, the Saibaman detonated. The Earthlings were stunned, Vegeta was still smirking.

“Well. I guess it’s a draw.” He muses, as if discussing a turn in the weather.

“Too bad.” I reply, sounding mocking but being surprisingly sad about the death. It was a horrible way to go; basically ambushed with no way to defend yourself. “I would have liked to see him try all the Saibamen.”

“Kamikaze; no way to defend.” Piccolo says, staring at the crater holding the body of his ally, laying limp and lifeless. Gohan seems pale, eyes wide in terror.

Was this his first glimpse of death?

“Is he..?” Krillan sprints over in the vain attempt to see if his friend was somehow alive. Krillan put his ear on Yamcha’s back to try and hear a heartbeat.

As reality sinks in, Krillan trembles. “No...he’s dead…” Krillan almost seems mad. I suppose I’d be mad, too, far beyond mad, if anyone killed Vegeta. I honestly don’t want to know what would happen if anyone killed Vegeta.

Shaking myself, I watch as Krillan’s fists clench and he slowly stands. Vegeta laughs beside me, but I can’t bring myself to even try to force a laugh.

“N-now, why’d yah go and have to be the hero, you big stupid jerk?” Krillan asks with a shaky voice. “It was my turn to fight! It should have been me in there!” The pang of survivor’s guilt was almost a physical blow to my chest. It was such a raw, emotional confession, and done in front of his enemies, that I couldn’t help the prickle of tears. I blink them back before anyone can see, unknowing of Namekian eyes briefly registering shock in my direction before returning to his grieving companion.

I’m reminded, watching Krillan on the verge of a breakdown, that they have matching outfits.

Likely, that means they fought together, training together and forming a friendship.

A friendship cut off too soon. The weight sinks onto my shoulders and I remain quiet. Krillan’s grief morphs into almost anger then. “You hear that, Yamcha?! You can’t die! It should’ve been me! It should’ve been me!” I sigh.

“Oh, shut up!” Nappa roars suddenly, tired of Krillan’s display. “It doesn’t make any difference how goes down first!” He growls. “Don’t you get it?! You’re all gonna die in the end!”

“Calm down, Nappa.” Vegeta orders. “Give them a moment to clear this trash off the battlefield.” I roll my eyes. Vegeta was always insensitive. That’s why I don’t talk to him about anything emotional or vulnerable.

He would think I’m weak, and I can’t afford to be seen as weak. So I remain quiet when I want to speak up. Krillan stands up, clearly enraged by Vegeta’s callous statement.

“How dare you!” Krillan growls. He turns to his allies. “You guys stay outta this!” He snaps. “This is between me and them now!” He looks at his dead friend. “Okay...this one’s for you, buddy. I won’t let you down again.”

“You’re right. You won’t live long enough to let anyone down again.” I taunt. If he was angered, he might be able to unleash a better attack and maybe he could win. Who knows?

“Shut up!” Krillan barks. “Now c’mon! I’m ready!” I cross my arms. If he wanted to throw his life away trying to deal with four Saibamen all at once, by all means, I wouldn’t stop him. He was far too blinded by grief and rage to listen to reason anyway. “I’ll take on all four of those goons at once!” Krillan challenges. I must admit, he had a lot of guts when he was this angered. “Just like Yamcha was gonna do.”

“Careful.” I call before I can stop myself. “Yamcha was cocky, and look where that got him.” I make it sound like a taunt, but I meant the warning. He didn’t have to needlessly die, especially not like this.

However, Krillan’s hands go up, energy glowing off his skin as he powers up for his fight. “You need to shut up! Send out the goon squad already!” Krillan roars at me. I blink. He really wanted to take them all on…

The poor fool would never make it out alive. He was doomed.

#fanfiction #Dragonball Z #DBZ #OC Insertion Series #OC #Original Character #Original Female Character #OC/Canon #Sarada (My OC) #Piccolo #Vegeta #Goku #Bulma #Piccolo/Sarada #piccolo/oc #Vegebul #Gochi #Vegeta/Bulma #Goku/Chichi

[itsclydebitches]

This is a bit of a random thought, but while some of us are having the “Is Team RWBY making stupid decisions and how should the show handle that?” conversation, I’m catching up on Dragon Ball Super and it occurred to me that the DBZ universe handles this difficulty rather well. 

For those who may not know, our protagonist Goku has arguably done things more objectively horrible than stealing an airship. Most prominently, Goku has at times prioritized his love of fighting to the extent that it threatens the whole Earth--if not the whole universe. Drawing out or starting fights when he doesn’t have to, saving villains because he hopes to fight them again someday, risking lives to induce powerups, etc. I think of Goku less as a hero in the conventional sense and more as a chaotic good: his primary goal (the desire to fight people) conveniently lines up with good deeds (bad guys are trying to conquer the Earth and are threatening my friends--I can fight them!). And that convenience is a-okay because it’s at the very heart of the story. It’s what everything else is built around. Alongside that: 

Goku is an excellent combination of good heart meets (at times) stupid brain. We’re shown again and again that Goku genuinely cares about those around him, but just as often we see how the allure of a fight can overwhelm that care or his common sense. That’s an integral part of his characterization, as opposed to smart characters suddenly acting stupid, unexpectedly. Goku’s a naive and largely simple person. He likes his family, food, and fighting. We don’t expect much more from him and thus aren’t surprised when this is all we get. This becomes enough. 

Goku’s obsession is also built into his very DNA. The show emphasizes that Saiyans have a drive to fight that colors every aspect of their life. You fall in love? It’s instinctually going to be with someone powerful (Bulma and Chi Chi). You nearly die? If you survive you’ll come back even stronger, prepared to fight again. Want to hold down an ordinary job? Good luck with that. Your need to train will quickly distract you. Only half-Saiyans like Gohan stand a chance at prioritizing something other than fighting in their lives. Thus, when characters make stupid choices in the name of a fight, we know that this obsession is largely biological. The story excuses Goku’s actions on multiple levels. 

Nevertheless, the narrative also makes it crystal clear when Goku’s decisions are bad ones. Whether it’s his friends freaking out over him giving Cell a senzu bean or the Kais begging him not to spar with Beerus because a battle like that would literally threaten everyone in the universe, we know when he’s being stupid... and then the show reminds us that fighting will always take precedent. Because that’s what the story is: a collection of fun, epic battles. We know what the story’s priorities are and we change our expectations accordingly. 

The potential consequences of those bad decisions also don’t have much weight, especially nowadays. Your fight gets someone killed? Okay. I mean people might be upset for half an episode but you have magic dragon balls that can bring them back to life--and you can now collect them very easily. Can’t wish someone back for some reason? We’ve established the afterlife as a fun place filled with other beloved characters. Is death really that bad? You doomed the whole planet somehow? At this point you’re friends with a bunch of gods, a few of which create life and planets. Even that’s not much of a threat anymore. We ultimately only care when characters make bad decisions because we assume there’s a potential consequence attached to them: stealing an airship could increase tensions between kingdoms, taking a headshot might have actually resulted in a murder, etc. The DBZ universe has mostly removed those consequences (even if during fights it wants us to forget that), thereby providing more leeway for characters to pull stupid stunts without audience backlash. 

Finally, the story has always twisted its own logic to prioritize a fight. That’s our norm. Though DB/DBZ/DBS can have a surprising amount of depth to them, we’re not at all surprised when Goku lets a threat live so they can fight again someday, or Frieza is conveniently resurrected with new state-of-the-art rejuvenation tech, or fighters manage to keep finding more and more strength to keep going even when their power supposedly ran out three episodes ago. That characterization and those tropes all serve the purpose of keeping the story on its main focus--cool fights--and we’ve established that since day one. It’s what we expect and ultimately why the story works in the way it’s meant to. 

RWBY I have very different (and in some respects higher) standards for. This volume I see them attempting to use a lot of the same writing tropes and conventions found in DBZ, even though RWBY was never meant to be that kind of story--one where logic and ethics are thoroughly de-emphasized just to get a cool battle going. As should be clear, that setup isn’t necessarily bad, not at all. It’s just not what I’ve come to expect of this specific show. 

But as said, this is a random thought. I’m just loving DBS and wanted to talk a little about why that show’s ridiculousness is fun  ^_^

#rwby #Dragonball Z #dragonball super #mymetas #very random meta #that exists largely because I don't feel like doing actual work... #also I love Beerus and Whis #more than I can say #toriyama please just give me a hundred manga volumes of them being food loving dorks #thank you